Doireann Ni Ghriofa Irish Times

"If [John] O’Donnell’s is a populous literary imagination, John F Deane’s is much more a continuing dialogue between self and soul, in which the narrative voice strikes always an unabashedly high tone. Against the desiccated, hyper-ironised, and textually self-pleasuring tendency in contemporary verse, Deane’s Dear Pilgrims (Carcanet Press) comes as something of a shock. It is serious, veering towards solemn, and given to abstract gestures and apostrophes." Caitriona O'Reilly Irish Times