Review of Black State Cars, Michael S. Begnal in Poetry Ireland Review issue 82.
“Very few countries are famous for their poets the way Ireland is, so to be an Irish poet brings with it certain expectations. What sets Alan Jude Moore apart is that he subverts these expectations at every turn. He is decidedly urban and internationalist and strives always for the new. Black State Cars, Moore’s first collection, is therefore a bold and ambitious statement of purpose, showcasing an original voice. Moore has a pan-European approach in terms of his poetics, and is just as likely to take a cue from Apollinaire or Montale or Lorca as he is from Yeats.
What is necessary is to seek new forms and new language in order to express new ideas and experience. Moore is doing so, and that is what makes Black State Cars an important and essential collection.”
