About this book

Finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Award (Poetry) 2023

True to its title, the poems in O’Hagan’s second poetry collection, Anamnesis, allude to a world hovering at the edges of our minds, one that can be sensed and yet lies, teasingly, just beyond conscious reach. The arc of poems through time and distance represents a summoning up of, and immersion in, small moments which reveal themselves to be quietly momentous; a distillation of personal experience from which we feel there is something to be collectively gleaned. The recovery of memory in its various facets is explored, and the poetry that emerges is both poignant and lyrical.

‘Through the excavation of personal memories, O’Hagan shows how our inner worlds are kept alive and made coherent, turning keys of recall to unlock a deeper awareness of who we are, and why. Her finely nuanced and delicately wrought poems are eloquent testimony to the functioning of memory and its implications for creativity, reminding the reader how another’s exacting work of remembrance can illuminate our own.’
Jena Woodhouse

‘In a world of pretenders, O’Hagan’s is an authentic and powerful voice. Anamnesis engages the senses as entirely and effortlessly as if the poet herself had grasped your hand and softly whispered, ‘Come, see the world through my eyes.’’
Dave Kavanagh

‘O’Hagan’s poetic voice is a complex, subtle, and authentic one that captures moods and behaviours with an intense and elegant analysis, and a searing insight into the stories we tell ourselves, what our memories conjure, and what lies beneath the force of forgetting.’
Linda Adair