Forthcoming from Banshee Press on 4 June 2026:Render, the dazzling new collection from poet Billy Ramsell |
My verses stretch and hesitate,
scale their rickety trellises.
My fruit comes rust-red, grudging. Render plunges the reader into the vibrant setting of Barcelona in the second half of the 20th century. A compelling character study, the book is presented as the selected works of a fictional poet: Alberto Cenas, the lonely scion of a wealthy Catalan family. Taken individually, Render’s poems offer piercing insights into the exuberance of youth, the disillusionment of early adulthood, inherited trauma, creativity, ageing and finality. Collectively, the book delivers the immersive experience of a concept album or an existentialist film, creating a complex portrait of a strange and sympathetic figure. |
|  | Billy Ramsell’s first two poetry collections are Complicated Pleasures (Dedalus Press, 2007) and The Architect’s Dream of Winter (Dedalus Press, 2013). The Architect’s Dream of Winter was shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award and recently appeared in Italian translation. He was awarded the Ireland Chair of Poetry bursary for 2013 and has been shortlisted for several other prizes. His recent work has appeared in Poetry, Poetry London, The Poetry Review and elsewhere. Author photo by David Creedon |
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For free shipping when you pre-order Render, use the offer code ALBERTO at checkout |
‘It was a real joy to luxuriate in the sensuous details of these pages ... Lit by the “low sun’s milk-white eye” of twentieth century Barcelona, an invented poet becomes palpable and real. It is a testament to the delicate skill of Ramsell that, as I reached the end of this collection, I was left craving more from Alberto Cenas, a poet who I know does not exist. Render is exquisite and delicious, a real jewel of a book.’ Dylan Brennan |
‘Render is a remarkable collection, truly a delight and a transport. Ramsell realizes with exquisite brio the fictive possibilities of his project, riffing virtuosically ... This is a radiant and passionate tour of the senses.’ Dean Browne |
‘Render is a triumph of translation – a carrying over of this exact and exacting now, its sounds and silences, its violences and intimacies – in an imagined and familiar poet’s voice singing the end of history.’ Kimberly Campanello |
‘These selected poems by a fictional Catalan poet conjure a life and a world and a sensibility beautifully. Voluble, vulnerable and always unexpected, Render is a terrific book.’ Nick Laird |
‘Render is a lush, inventive collection, which uses material details, such as paintings and city streets, to look at the impermanence of each human lifetime. With individual poems that are darkly witty, subtle, and full of poignancy, the collection builds in momentum to ask how do we live in a world that is shaped by loneliness? And what does it mean to live a good life? Richly complex, Render is vivid, moving, and imbued with subtle power.’ Rosamund Taylor |
| 104 pages
Paperback
5 February 2026
ISBN: 978-1-917161-01-5 €12.00 |
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|  | 248 pages
Paperback
9 October 2025
ISBN: 978-1-7393979-8-2 €18.00 |
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