Ghosts by Nick Conroy Blog tour

Today is the final stop and closing the blog tour for Ghosts by Nick Conroy, a tour organised by Kelly at #LoveBooksGroupTours




I was also on the Bookstagram tour for this book also and got some night shots, check them out HERE.





Blurb:
Every poem in GHOSTS touches on the theme in some way, whether it be overtly as in the title poem, or more succinctly, as in Dragonfly – in which the poet explores ephemeral elements of his perception of his mother. Nick Conroy’s words touch the heart of his subject matter, and the reader’s emotions at the same time. Nick is currently studying for a Master’s in English at the University of Hull. Poetry has always been at the centre of his passion as a writer, and since childhood he’s enjoyed spoken word. He moved to Hull in 2014, with an understanding that the city is still revered for its poets. He senses something haunting and intoxicating about Hull, and the community of writing that it holds in high regard. Hull, in its turn, is beginning to hold Nick himself in high regard and he is fast becoming wellknown as one of the region’s bright young Spoken Word talents.

You can buy the book in paperback or kindle format from Amazon HERE.




About the Author:
Nick Conroy is a student at the University of Hull. He studied Philosophy with Creative Writing and is now starting a Master's degree in English, with a focus on Creative Writing.
Nick, who is originally from Kent, has been a Hull resident for around five years. "It's here in Hull that my poetry has moved on leaps-and-bounds, and I continue to shape my style, and my voice, with influences I've been introduced to in this City."
Nick loves performance poetry and has also been involved with the Contains Strong Language festival for the last two years, performing pieces for BBC Humberside.

You can find Nick on Twitter

@Nick_Conroy

You can read more about Nick on Wild Pressed website HERE.

Publisher on Twitter:

@Wildpressed

For my stop on the tour I have my review, enjoy.


Ghosts by Nick Conroy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - In and out over 3 days

Pages - 48

Publisher - Wild Pressed Books

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Every poem in GHOSTS touches on the theme in some way, whether it be overtly as in the title poem, or more succinctly, as in Dragonfly - in which the poet explores ephemeral elements of his perception of his mother.

Nick Conroy's words touch the heart of his subject matter, and the reader's emotions at the same time, involving family, identity - and potential or actual loss.

This is a strong, cohesive collection of poems, containing a hard grit which meets a fluid, powerful movement of language to create waves of recognition and understanding. The topics and themes are covered honestly, and with refreshing vulnerability in the language used. In each poem there is something of a journey - involving lostness, a seeking and in the end an acceptance of the events described.

Nick Conroy's paged poetry is like the written musical score of his live performance, which has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

Nick is currently studying for a Master's in English at the University of Hull. Poetry has always been at the centre of his passion as a writer, and since childhood he's enjoyed spoken word.

He moved to Hull in 2014, with an understanding that the city is still revered for its poets. He senses something haunting and intoxicating about Hull, and the community of writing that it holds in high regard.


My Review

Nineteen powerful poems packed into this tiny wee book. Each have ghost themed or mentioned in some description. Some poems are really short at just over half a page, others have verses spread across a few pages.

Poetry is something I used to love as a child/teen and fell away from as an adult, I agreed to this book because of the overall theme. The cover also had a wee pull for me which was why I wanted to bookstagram it, it looked great in so many settings.

I think, for me, I got the most from this by dipping in and out and soaking up one poem at a time with a break in between in. For each reader I think some of the poems will be quite deep and intense depending on how you take them. For example "Grappling with Ghosts" has likely came from the authors own person experience or situation or something that sparked that creation. Yet for me it evoked a memory from my past and made me ponder on a particular relationship I hadn't thought of in a long long time.

I think that is the thing with poetry, it can be very personal, for the author producing it and for the reader consuming it. Some of the poems left no deep impression other that to smile that a young man has created something like these and others caught me off guard by evoking either an emotive response and or memories. I wasn't expecting anything like that when I picked this up, maybe it is time I went back to reading poetry again. A very different type of read for me but I did enjoy it as a break from the norm and a different kind of escapism. If you enjoy poetry or even if you don't normally read it I would say check it out and would love to hear your thoughts, 3/5 for me this time. This is my first time reading this authors works I would be interested in seeing what else he has to offer.

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