Author Paul Howard launched the latest Sunday Miscellany anthology in a packed-out Lexicon Library, Dún Laoghaire, as part of Dublin Book Festival last weekend. Here's what he said...
Good evening, everyone.
It's such a joy to be here in this beautiful library, surrounded by books, words, and people who love both. Libraries, as we know, are the quietest places where the loudest things happen — imagination, laughter, arguments with fictional characters, and the occasional whispered, "You have to read this."
And tonight, we're here to celebrate you, the contributors to Sunday Miscellany — a programme that has been quietly doing something extraordinary for decades now: reminding us, every week, that words still matter.
Sunday Miscellany is one of those rare Irish institutions that defies explanation. It’s a radio show, yes, but it’s also a kind of national ritual — like Mass, or complaining about the weather.
For me it’s always been a kind of mindfulness. Every Sunday morning, people like me – who have may have lapsed other spiritual Sunday rituals – put on the kettle, make the toast, put the phone in another room and allow themselves to be carried away by voices that sound like old friends telling stories from the other side of the table.
And that’s what makes this book so special. This collection is a celebration of that gentle Sunday magic — a compilation of some of the best writing broadcast on the programme over the past two years. It’s the perfect thing to reach for when you want to be moved, amused, or reminded that life, in all its small moments, is worth noticing.
When you open this book, you’ll find pieces that make you laugh out loud — and others that make you suddenly realise you’ve gone a bit quiet, staring out the window, thinking about your own mother’s kitchen, or a place you once knew by heart.
That’s the magic of Sunday Miscellany: it takes the ordinary and turns it into something quietly extraordinary.
It’s also a kind of time capsule — the way we talk, the things we love, the memories we keep polishing and passing down. Over the years, contributors have written about everything from bogs to Beethoven, from first loves to lost dogs, from GAA matches to Greek myths. Sometimes all in the same essay!
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Listen to Two Fingers by Paul Howard, for Sunday Miscellany
And that’s the beauty of it — it’s a programme that believes everyone has a story, and that every story, told with heart and sincerity, is worth hearing.
Of course, part of the charm of Sunday Miscellany is that, in a world suddenly filled with people speaking hateful words at the top of their voices, it doesn’t shout for attention. It’s the opposite of a hot take and it reminds us that thoughtful reflection and speaking truthfully in a quiet voice still have a place in the world.
I was told not to single any writer out tonight but I will single out a line that really resonated with my wife, who quotes it to me at least three times a day:
"You can tell a lot about a person by how they make tea."
That, I think, is quintessential Sunday Miscellany: finding philosophy in the teapot.
And tonight’s book launch is really about celebrating all the people who make that happen — the writers, the readers, the producers, and, of course, the listeners. Because if you think about it, every piece ever broadcast was written and spoken aloud by one person, and then absorbed by thousands — each hearing it differently. That’s a very intimate kind of magic.
book launch in the Lexicon Library, Dún Laoghaire
For the contributors — and I’m proud to say that I’m one myself — there’s nothing quite like that moment when you hear your words set to music, broadcast into living rooms across the country. As someone who hates the sound of my own voice, I usually leave the room when I’m on and listen through the door. But it’s still nice to feel connected to a whole community of listeners you’ll probably never meet, but who are nodding along, smiling, maybe even remembering their own story.
That’s what this book captures. It’s not just a collection of essays — it’s a collection of voices – your voices – connected by empathy, wit, and that quiet Irish gift for storytelling.
This book invites you to linger in that lovely Sunday space: where stories, memories, and music meet.
I want to say a huge congratulations to all of you. But most of all to the team behind this book, led by Sarah Binchy, who does an extraordinary job producing the show and is a fine writer in her own right. The most recent Sunday Miscellany anthology won The Journal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year at the An Post Book Awards. I’m delighted to say that this one is shortlisted this year, so congratulations to Sarah and all of you. Voting remains open for a week, so if you get home tonight, if you’re still sober, you might consider logging on and voting.
Huge congratulations to New Island Books, one of our most important and beloved publishers.
May this book find its way into many hands, may its pages be turned slowly, and – in a world that’s gone very, very loud – may it remind us all to keep listening to each other, to the small moments, and to the stories that make us who we are.
Sunday Miscellany: A Selection 2023-2025, edited by Sarah Binchy, is published by New Island Books and nominated for an An Post Irish Book Award in the category The Journal.ie Best Irish-Published Book.
