The Ark Builders, Mary O'Donnellís fifth poetry collection, is thoughtful, sensuous and witty, combining the topical with the timeless. One of its themes is that of the ageing woman ñ the ëwallsí through which she has to pass and what she might find on the other side, her relationship with her body, her sexuality, her ability to ëkeep goingí ñ which she explores with a refreshing candour.

"Mary O'Donnell is the secret, unseen star of Irish writing"
The Irish Times

"The poems are readable and accessible, conversational and informal, often having a sense of one-to-one intimacy ó assisted by free flowing stanzas with naturalistic speech rhythms. They are clear sighted and thoughtfully observed, noting sensory impressions..."
Gillian Drake, Roundyhouse

"The collection which keeps calling me back because it is enduringly rich and interesting is Mary O'Donnell's The Ark Builders. This is her sixth collection and the poems are highly accomplished. As meditations on experiences like mortality, histories, and concerns about climate change, they feel as though they could only have been made as poems - no other form would have allowed such sensuous, physical, expression of thinking."
Chris Kinsey, Envoi