This study of contemporary Northern Irish poetry focuses on current debates about postmodernism, poetry and politics, and the figure of woman in Irish political discourse. Close readings of the work of Tom Paulin, Medbh McGuckian and Paul Muldoon emphasize elements of the poetry. 'Wills's book touches on areas of importance for readers of what might be called the post-Heaney generation of Northern Irish poets, and it airs problems about the place of the feminine or the private in this work which could be of some significance.' Peter McDonald, Irish Review