The Poetry Programme: Series 1

Click on a date to listen to the show.

PROGRAMME 33: 25th August

Pat's guest this week is American poet Tess Gallagher.

Tess Gallagher was born in 1943 in Port Angeles, Washington. Her first collection of poems, Instructions to the Double, won the 1976 Elliston Book Award for "best book of poetry published by a small press". In 1984, she published the collection Willingly, which consists of poems written to and about her third husband, author Raymond Carver, who died in 1988. Other collections include My Black Horse: New and Selected Poems (1995), Owl-Spirit Dwelling (1994) and Moon Crossing Bridge (1992).

In this programme she reads poetry from her new collection, 'Dear Ghosts' (Bloodaxe Press).

(First Broadcast 14th April 2007)

PROGRAMME 32: August 18th

This week Pat and poets Tom Conaty and Eva Bourke discuss the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, and in particular Don Paterson's 'Orpheus', versions of Rilke's 'Sonnets to Orpheus'.
(Repeat)

PROGRAMME 31: August 11th
This week on the programme Pat speaks to poets Cathal Ó Searcaigh from Donegal and Yuyutsu RD Sharma from Nepal.

Poet and writer Yuyutsu RD Sharma is one of Nepal's leading poets and translators. He is the author of six collections of poetry as well as the translator of Cathal Ó Searcaigh's New And Selected poems which was published in Nepali and English in 2006. For further information on Yuyutsu's work, you can visit his website at www.yuyutsu.de

Donegal poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh recently published a new collection of poetry called 'Guru i gClúidíní' (Cló Iar Chonnachta).

(first broadcast on February 3rd 2007)

PROGRAMME 30: August 4th

(This programme was first broadcast on the 7th of April.)

This week Pat Boran and his guests Robert Dunbar, Julie O'Callaghan and Gabriel Fitzmaurice discuss what makes a good poem for children and talk about some of the collections currently available.

Robert Dunbar's recommendations for Poetry books for children are

1. For general background interest: Universal Verse: Poetry for Children - A Guide edited by Deborah Hallford & Edgardo Zaghini (Barn Owl Books, 2006) - An attractive listing of some 200 poetry collections/anthologies of poetry for children, arranged by age groups (from Under 5 to 12+), each book having a brief annotation: very useful for parents, teachers

2. For more 'academic' (but still very readable) interest: From the Garden to the Street: 300 Years of Poetry for Children by Morag Styles (Cassell, 1998) - The only historical overview of the subject, by a recognised authority

3. Two Irish anthologies: Irish Poems edited by Matthew Sweeney (Macmillan, 2005); Something Beginning With P edited by Seamus Cashman (O'Brien Press, 2004)

4. Two attractive anthologies for the youngest children: Here's A Little Poem edited by Jane Yolen & Andrew Fusek Peters (Walker, 2007); Michael Foreman's Nursery Rhymes (Walker, 1998)

5. Three general anthologies: The Kingfisher Book of Comic Verse edited by Roger McGough (Kingfisher, 1986); The New Faber Book of Children's Verse edited by Matthew Sweeney (Faber & Faber, 2001); 100 Best Poems For Children, Chosen By Children edited by Roger McGough (Viking, 2001)

6. Collections by individual poets: Collected Poems for Children by Charles Causley (Macmillan, 1996); A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (First published 1885, Gollancz 1985, illustrated by Michael Foreman); The Last Thesaurus by Paul Muldoon (Faber & Faber, 1995); Up on the Roof by Matthew Sweeney (Faber & Faber, 2001); The Good Child's Guide to Rock 'n 'Roll by Carol Ann Duffy (Faber & Faber, 2003)

Julie O'Callaghan's poetry collections for children are - Taking My Pen for a Walk (London, Orchard, 1988); Two Barks (Newcastle Upon Tyne, Bloodaxe Books, 1998); and The Book of Whispers (London, Faber & Faber, 2006).
Her poems for older children havealso appeared in numerous anthologies in the UK, including the New Oxford Book of Children's Verse, the New Faber Book of Children's Verse and in school texts in Ireland, England, and Canada.

Gabriel Fitzmaurice's books for children nclude But Dad! (Dublin, Poolbeg, 1995); Puppy and the Sausage (Poolbeg, 1998); Dear Grandad (Poolbeg, 2001); A Giant Never Dies (Poolbeg, 2002); I'm Proud to Be Me(Mercier Press 2005).
Gabriel also read Gabriel Rosenstock's poem Taidhgín Turcaí and that poem and it's translation are available in The Rhino's Specs, Spéaclaí an tSrónbheannaigh (Mercier Press 2002)

Gabriel Fitzmaurice and Robert Dunbar edited an anthology for children called Rusty Nails & Astronauts (A Wolfhound Poetry Anthology, illustrated by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick)

PROGRAMME 29: July 28th
Pat Boran is joined by American poet C.D. Wright whose collection, 'Like Something Flying Backwards- New and Selected Poems', has just been published by Bloodaxe books. This is the first time that a complete collection of work by C.D. Wright has been published on this side of the Atlantic and in the programme C.D. reads a selection of poems from her new book.

PROGRAMME 28: 21st July
On this evening's programme, Pat Boran is joined by three poets who have recently published their debut collections.

Catherine Ann Cullen's book is called 'A Bone In My Throat' and it's published by Doghouse and costs €12.

Joe Kane's collection is called 'The Boy Who Nearly Won the Texaco Art Competition and other poems'. It's published by New Island.

And finally Dave Lordan's first collection of poems is called 'The Boy in the Ring'. It's published by Salmon Poetry and costs €12.

Programme 27: July 14th
This week on The Poetry Programme Pat Boran is joined by Malawian poet Jack Mapanje, whose new book 'The Beasts of Nalunga' has just been published by Bloodaxe Books.

The programme also features an interview with Chris Agee, editor of the Belfast based literary journal, 'Irish Pages'.
For further information on 'Irish Pages' you can visit their website at www.irishpages.org.

Programme 26: 7th July 2007
Poet Mark Granier joins Pat Boran on the Poetry Programme this week to talk about and read from his new book, 'The Skyroad', which is published by Salmon Poetry.

Also joining Pat in studio is poet John Mac Namee who is the man behind the 'Out to Lunch' poetry reading series which was originally based in the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre and is now running in the Irish Writers Centre. For further information on upcoming events in the series, please go to www.writerscentre.ie

Programme 25: 30th June 2007
This week on the Poetry Programme Pat Boran is joined by Chris Agee and Peter Sirr to review two new collections of poetry- 'Strong is your Hold' by Galway Kinnell and 'Windrush Songs' by James Berry. Both books are published by Bloodaxe Books.

Programme 24: 23rd June 2007
This week The Poetry Programme brings you the second part of an extended interview with poet Thomas Kinsella. This programme features readings from one of the two new Peppercanister books, 'Man of War' as well as poems from earlier collections.

For further information on the new Peppercanister pamphlets you can go to www.dedaluspress.com.

Claddagh Records have just released a double CD of Thomas Kinsella reading from his work and for further information about that CD you can visit their website at www.claddaghrecords.com

'Selected Poems' by Thomas Kinsella has just been published by Carcanet Press and for further information you can go to www.carcanet.co.uk

Programme 23: 16th June 2007
This week on the Poetry Programme we bring you the first part of an interview with poet Thomas Kinsella. On this programme he talks about his beginnings in writing, his work on the translation of the Táin and the foundation of the Peppercanister Press. He also reads a poem from one of the new Peppercanisters, 'Belief and Unbelief', as well as poems from his earlier collections.

Programme 22: 9th June 2007
This week on The Poetry Programme Pat Boran is joined by poets Nessa O'Mahony and Gerald Dawe to review two new collections of Irish poetry- 'The Mouth of a River' by Seán Lysaght (published by Gallery Press), and 'Collected Poems' by Francis Harvey(published by the Dedalus Press).

Programme 21: 2nd June 2007
This week on the Programme Pat is joined by the three winners of the 3rd Annual Schools against Racism Poetry Competition- Kerri Ward, Benjamin Burns and Maria Coyle, as well as Anna Boner from Poetry Ireland and poet Paula Meehan who was one of the judges this year.

Programme 20: 26th May 2007
This week's guest on the programme is poet John Liddy who joined us from Madrid. John discusses and reads some of his poems from his new book, 'The Well- New and Selected Poems'.

'The Well- New and Selected Poems' is published by Revival Press and costs €15.

For further information please visit
www.revivalpress.ie or www.limerick.com/whitehousepoets

Programme 19: 19th May 2007
On this week's programme we bring you some of the highlights from the Strokestown International Poetry Festival including readings from some of the shortlisted poets in the Strokestown International Poetry Prize.

Programme 18: 12th May 2007
This week on the Poetry Programme Pat Boran talks to poet Katie Donovan and poet and novelist Dermot Healy about the relationship between writing fiction and writing poetry and they discuss some of the practitioners who manage tosuccessfully balance both.

Programme 17: 5th May 2007
On this week's programme Pat Boran talks to Catherine Phil McCarthy about her new collection, 'Suntrap', which is published by the Blackstaff Press. We also bring you readings from some of the poets who are featured in the recently published 'Best of Irish Poetry 2007'. (Edited by Colm Breathnach and Maurice Riordan and published by Southward Editions)

Programme 16: 28th April 2007
On this week's programme you can hear highlights of a public event recorded last Saturday at the Rathmines Festival in Dublin. Writer Anne Enright, writer and actor Donal O'Kelly and Mary Davis, CEO of Special Olympics Ireland all chose and read their favourite poems to a live audience in St. Louis High School in Rathmines.

Programme 15: 21st April 2007
Fifty years ago this year, the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community, or EEC, since abbreviated to the EC, and began to describe and shortly afterwards to shape what it means to be European.

On tonight's programme we're marking that anniversary through poetry. Pat Boran is joined by poets Mary O'Donnell in Dublin and Michael Augustine in Bremen, Germany to talk about some of their favourite European poets from the last century.

If you would like to read a complete version of Paul Celan's poem 'Todesfuge', please follow this link.

www.yes2art.com/DACH/todes_dead.html

Programme 14: 14th April 2007
Pat's guest this week is American poet Tess Gallagher.

Tess Gallagher was born in 1943 in Port Angeles, Washington. Her first collection of poems, Instructions to the Double, won the 1976 Elliston Book Award for "best book of poetry published by a small press". In 1984, she published the collection Willingly, which consists of poems written to and about her third husband, author Raymond Carver, who died in 1988. Other collections include My Black Horse: New and Selected Poems (1995), Owl-Spirit Dwelling (1994) and Moon Crossing Bridge (1992).

In this programme she reads poetry from her new collection, 'Dear Ghosts' (Bloodaxe Press).

Programme 13: 7th April 2007
This week Pat Boran and his guests Robert Dunbar, Julie O'Callaghan and Gabriel Fitzmaurice discuss what makes a good poem for children and talk about some of the collections currently available.

Robert Dunbar's recommendations for Poetry books for children are

1. For general background interest: Universal Verse: Poetry for Children - A Guide edited by Deborah Hallford & Edgardo Zaghini (Barn Owl Books, 2006) - An attractive listing of some 200 poetry collections/anthologies of poetry for children, arranged by age groups (from Under 5 to 12+), each book having a brief annotation: very useful for parents, teachers

2. For more 'academic' (but still very readable) interest: From the Garden to the Street: 300 Years of Poetry for Children by Morag Styles (Cassell, 1998) - The only historical overview of the subject, by a recognised authority

3. Two Irish anthologies: Irish Poems edited by Matthew Sweeney (Macmillan, 2005); Something Beginning With P edited by Seamus Cashman (O'Brien Press, 2004)

4. Two attractive anthologies for the youngest children: Here's A Little Poem edited by Jane Yolen & Andrew Fusek Peters (Walker, 2007); Michael Foreman's Nursery Rhymes (Walker, 1998)

5. Three general anthologies: The Kingfisher Book of Comic Verse edited by Roger McGough (Kingfisher, 1986); The New Faber Book of Children's Verse edited by Matthew Sweeney (Faber & Faber, 2001); 100 Best Poems For Children, Chosen By Children edited by Roger McGough (Viking, 2001)

6. Collections by individual poets: Collected Poems for Children by Charles Causley (Macmillan, 1996); A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (First published 1885, Gollancz 1985, illustrated by Michael Foreman); The Last Thesaurus by Paul Muldoon (Faber & Faber, 1995); Up on the Roof by Matthew Sweeney (Faber & Faber, 2001); The Good Child's Guide to Rock 'n 'Roll by Carol Ann Duffy (Faber & Faber, 2003)

Julie O'Callaghan's poetry collections for children are -
Taking My Pen for a Walk (London, Orchard, 1988); Two Barks (Newcastle Upon Tyne, Bloodaxe Books, 1998); and The Book of Whispers (London, Faber & Faber, 2006).
Her poems for older children havealso appeared in numerous anthologies in the UK, including the New Oxford Book of Children's Verse, the New Faber Book of Children's Verse and in school texts in Ireland, England, and Canada.

Gabriel Fitzmaurice's books for children nclude But Dad! (Dublin, Poolbeg, 1995); Puppy and the Sausage (Poolbeg, 1998); Dear Grandad (Poolbeg, 2001); A Giant Never Dies (Poolbeg, 2002); I'm Proud to Be Me(Mercier Press 2005).
Gabriel also read Gabriel Rosenstock's poem Taidhgín Turcaí and that poem and it's translation are available in The Rhino's Specs, Spéaclaí an tSrónbheannaigh (Mercier Press 2002)

Gabriel Fitzmaurice and Robert Dunbar edited an anthology for children called Rusty Nails & Astronauts (A Wolfhound Poetry Anthology, illustrated by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick)

Programme 12: 31st March 2007
Pat Boran's guest this week is poet Jane Hirshfield, who is taking part in this year's Poetry Now Festival in Dun Laoghaire. Her latest collection of poems, 'After' was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot prize earlier this year. Previous honours include The Poetry Center Book Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, Columbia University's Translation Center Award, the Commonwealth Club of California Poetry Medal, and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. In 2004, Hirshfield was awarded the 70th Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by The Academy of American Poets.

She has written five other collections of poetry as well as Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (1997). As translator she has worked on The Ink Dark Moon: Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan (1990) with Mariko Aratani and Women in Praise of the Sacred: Forty-Three Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women (1994).

The Poetry Now Festival in Dun Laoghaire continues on Sunday, April 1st 2007. For further information you can visit their website at www.dlrcoco.ie/arts/festivals_pn_2007.htm

Programme 11: 24th March 2007
This week on the programme Pat talks to poet David Wheatley whose new collection 'Mocker' has been shortlisted for the Irish Times/Poetry Now Award.

The Irish Times Poetry Now Award 2007 is the only award of its kind which recognises and rewards work by Irish poets. It recognises the best collection of poems published by an Irish poet in 2006 and has previously been awarded to Derek Mahon and Dorothy Molloy.

Other books on the shortlist are
> Seamus Heaney, District and Circle (Faber & Faber)
> Medbh McGuckian, The Currach Requires No Harbours (Gallery Press)
> Paul Muldoon, Horse Latitudes (Faber & Faber)
> Caitriona O'Reilly, The Sea Cabinet (Bloodaxe)

'Mocker' by David Wheatley is published by Gallery Press
We also preview the Poetry Now Festival 2007 with programme director, John McAuliffe. Full details of all the events taking place in the festival are available on their website-
www.dlrcoco.ie/arts/festivals_pn_2007.htm

Programme 10: 17th March 2007
The Poetry Programme celebrates St. Patrick's Day by delving into the RTÉ Radio archives to bring you some very special recordings of a variety of Irish poets reading their own poetry, both in English and in Irish.

The following poets are featured in the programme- Gabriel Rosenstock, Eavan Boland, John Montague, Derek Mahon, Máirtín Ó Direáin, Brendan Kennelly, Biddy Jenkinson, Patrick Kavanagh, Paula Meehan, Michael Longley, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Dennis O'Driscoll, Pearse Hutchinson and Seamus Heaney.

Programme 9: 10th March 2007
This week on the programme Pat Boran and his guests, Sharon Hogan and poet Mark Granier talk about five of the many poetry publications on offer today. They discuss the role of these magazines and journals and analyse how important they are in terms of both readers and writers.

The featured magazines are -

Poetry Ireland Review,
Poetry Ireland, 120 St.Stephen's Green, Dublin 2
Editor: Peter Sirr
E-mail publications@poetryireland.ie [No submissions by e-mail]
Web www.poetryireland.ie

The Shop

A Magazine of Poetry, Skeagh, Schull, Cork, Ireland
Editors: John and Hilary Wakeman
E-mail wakeman@iolfree.ie [No submissions by e-mail]
Web www.theshop-poetry-magazine.ie

The Stinging Fly
P.O. Box 6016, Dublin 8
Editor: Declan Meade
E-mail stingingfly@hotmail.com
Web www.stingingfly.org

Cyphers
3 Selskar Terrace, Ranelagh, Dublin 6
Editors: Eíléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Macdara Woods, Pearse Hutchinson, Leland Bardwell
Web www.cyphersmagazine.org/

An Sionnach
Web- www.an-sionnach.com

A full list of Poetry journals are available on the Poetry Ireland website at www.poetryireland.ie

Programme 8: 3rd March 2007
The centenary of the birth of WH Auden took place on the 21st of February and this week on the programme we celebrate his life and work.

Pat's guests are biographer and author Michael O'Sullivan and poet David Wheatley. The programme also includes extracts of some of Auden's poetry including Musée des Beaux Arts, Stop all the Clocks, Tell me the truth about Love and In Memory of WB Yeats.

Programme 7: 17th February 2007
This week on the programme Pat Boran interviews poet John Haynes, who recently won the 2006 Costa Poetry Award for his book, 'Letter to Patience'. The book is part fictional and part autobiographical- Haynes lived in Nigeria from 1970-1988 where he worked as a lecturer in English at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.

'Letter to Patience' is a long poem divided into 52 sections which is written over the course of one night in 1993. The "Letter Writer" who has recently returned from Nigeria to live in England writes to Patience, the owner of a small bar in Nigeria, weaving together stories from his childhood, memories of life in Nigeria, images from his own life today with his wife and children in England as well as philosophical and political commentary.
"Letter to Patience" is published by Seren Books in Wales

Programme 6: 10th February 2007
This week Pat and his guests talk about the topic of love. Sally Emerson author of a new anthology called 'Be Mine' joins us from London and poet Michael O'Loughlin is in studio with some more unusual love poems. The programme also features listeners' Valentine's poems.

'Be Mine' by Sally Emerson is published by Little brown and costs £12.99.

Programme 5: 3rd February 2007
This week on the programme Pat speaks to poets Cathal Ó Searcaigh from Donegal and Yuyutsu RD Sharma from Nepal.

Poet and writer Yuyutsu RD Sharma is one of Nepal's leading poets and translators. He is the author of six collections of poetry as well as the translator of Cathal Ó Searcaigh's New And Selected poems which was published in Nepali and English in 2006. For further information on Yuyutsu's work, you can visit his website at www.yuyutsu.de

Donegal poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh recently published a new collection of poetry called 'Guru i gClúidíní' (Cló Iar Chonnachta).

Programme 4: 27th January 2007
This week on the programme Pat and his guests discuss poetry and protest. Pat is joined by Todd Swift, poet and editor of '100 Poets against the War',(Salt Modern Poets 2003) and poet Gerry Murphy, whose new collection, 'End of Part One' has just been published. (Dedalus)

For further information on Todd Swift's work, you can visit his website at www.toddswift.com

Other events related to the theme of poetry and politics-
The Munster Literature Centre is running a festival called -'A Literary Festival of War & Politics' from Thursday 22nd to Saturday 24th February. Full details at www.munsterlit.ie

The School of English in Trinity College Dublin is currently running a series of lectures on the theme of 'Poetry and Politics'. Lectures take place every Tuesday evening at 7.30pm. Featured guest lecturers include Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Sandra O'Connell, Terence Brown, Carol Rumens, George Szirtes and Gerald Dawe. Full details on the Oscar Wilde Centre's website at www.tcd.ie/OWC

Todd Swift was recently a guest of the White House Poets in Limerick and over the next few weeks the following poets will also be reading in Limerick. Jean O Brien, Anthony Daly, Liz Willows on February 14th and Maighread Medbh on February 21st.

For further information you can visit their website at www.limerick.com/whitehousepoets

Programme 3: 20th January 2007
This week Pat and poets Tom Conaty and Eva Bourke discuss the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, and in particular Don Paterson's 'Orpheus', versions of Rilke's 'Sonnets to Orpheus'. (Faber)

Programme 2: 13th January 2007
This week on The Poetry Programme, Pat is joined by poets Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Peter Sirr to talk about the books on this year's shortlist for the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize. The winner will be announced on Monday, January 15th.
The books on the shortlist are-
. Tyrannosaurus Rex versus the Corduroy Kid by Simon Armitage (Faber)
. Tramp in Flames by Paul Farley (Picador)
. District and Circle by Seamus Heaney (Faber)
. Bad Shaman Blues by W. N. Herbert (Bloodaxe)
. After by Jane Hirshfield (Bloodaxe)
. The Blood Choir by Tim Liardet (Seren Books)
. Horse Latitudes by Paul Muldoon (Faber)
. Swithering by Robin Robertson (Picador)
. Redgrove's Wife by Penelope Shuttle (Bloodaxe)
. Dear Room by Hugo Williams (Faber)

Programme 1: 6th January 2007
In the first programme in this new series, presenter Pat Boran talks to Josephine Hart about the importance of hearing poetry read aloud. Josephine Hart is the author of 'Catching Life by the Throat- Poems from eight great poets', a book and cd which includes poems by Auden, Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Kipling, Larkin, Plath, Yeats and Marianne Moore read by well known actors including Roger Moore and Sinéad Cusack.

Tony Curtis is also in studio to talk about his new collection, 'The Well in the Rain- New and Selected Poems'.