Rita Ann Higgins

Rita Ann Higgins was born in Galway in 1955, and still resides in her native city. Throughout her career as a writer, her strong, clear poetic voice has challenged and revitalised literary norms. With her first publication, Goddess on the Mervue Bus (Salmon, 1986), she was instantly recognised as a powerful force for change. Witch in the Bushes (Salmon, 1988), followed in 1992 by the first edition of Philomena's Revenge, established her solidly in the public mind. Higher Purchase was Rita's fourth collection to be published by Salmon Poetry. Since then she has published three books with Bloodaxe: Sunny Side Plucked (Poetry Book Society Recommendation) (1996), An Awful Racket (2001) and Throw in the Vowels: New & Selected Poems (2005), the latter reissued in 2010 with an accompanying CD of Rita Ann reading her work, as well as Hurting God: Prose & Poems (2010) from Salmon.