Books for Breakfast (Ireland)

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This year marks the 45th anniversary of Salmon Poetry now based in The Salmon Bookshop and Literary Centre, in Ennistymon, County Clare. We invited poet and critic Ciarán O’Rourke, whose own new collection, Prophetstown, is published by Irish Pages in August, to review four new poetry books from Salmon Poetry. And we talk to US poet Tess Barry, a  native of Western Pennsylvania who lives in Pittsburgh, about her debut collection The Marvelous Real, a published by Meadowlark Press. So, accompanied by a  good strong mug of coffee or pot tea, sit back and enjoy a feast of new poetry. 
The four Salmon books reviewed are  All the Tattered Stars: Selected and New Poems by Richard W. Halperin;  Sky Sailing by Tony Kitt; Dodder Daughter by Nessa O'Mahony and Throat Full of Feathers by Lorna Shaughnessy.
This episode is supported by a Project Award from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. 
Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, 'Thou Shalt Not Carry' from The Hare's Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. 
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Epistolary novels used to be all the rage Think Clarissa, think Dracula, think the more recent We need to talk about Kevin. Last year saw another smash hit epistolary novel, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, published to wide acclaim and stellar sales, and shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Fiction prize . Three times a week, 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp sits down at her desk in her Maryland home to write her letters. Her correspondence has been, as she puts it, "the mainstay of my life". Virginia was in Dublin this June  for the Carlow University Pittsburgh's MFA in Creative Writing Program residency at Trinity College, Dublin and we’re thankful to poet and program director Tess Barry for allowing us to feature this interview on Books for Breakfast. The interviewer is noted writer Carlo Gebler who was also Virginia’s mentor during the year she spent on the creative writing MPhil in Trinity. So grab a coffee and sit back and listen to Carlo Gebler and Virginia Evans. 
'A warm, funny gem of a novel'
LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES
'Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved'
NEW YORK TIMES 
'Immensely enjoyable'
GUARDIAN
'The year's breakout novel no one saw coming'
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, 'Thou Shalt Not Carry' from The Hare's Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. 
Logo designed by Freya Sirr.

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On today's show we travel down the road to Carlow University Pittsburgh's MFA in Creative Writing Program during its annual June residency at Trinity College, Dublin where we have been invited to interview novelist Caitriona Lally about her latest book, the memoir Home Economics. So grab that flat white, latte, tea and rasher sandwich and have a listen to Caitriona's fascinating account of balancing life as a cleaner in the housekeeping department of Trinity College with the life of a successful writer.

Bold and thought-provoking, self-deprecating and soaked in Caitríona Lally's singular voice, her first memoir quietly but forcefully puzzles over personal/home economics, creativity and the true impact of 'success' and 'failure' on a writer's life.

'Since I've had my first book published, I've earned more from cleaning than from writing. The home economics don't add up.'

Between 2015 and 2021, Caitríona Lally published her first two novels, Eggshells and Wunderland. To buy her time to write during those years, she returned to the housekeeping department at Trinity College Dublin, a job she once held as a student. This begins a negotiation between the practical and creative demands of her life, further complicated when she becomes pregnant and almost impossible when the pandemic hits.

Reviews for Home Economics

"This is absolutely one to read about the reality of 'making it' as an artist, and how to live, make money and create."
– AOIFE BARRY, THE JOURNAL

"Hilarious, audacious, and deeply felt. An idiosyncratic hymn to the drudgery of life!"
– SARA BAUME

"I thought I'd be interested in Home Economics because I too work a manual job that pays a pittance, yet still provides more income than writing books. And yes, Lally is wonderfully insightful about the difficulties and advantages of such a life. But in the end it was her wit, her ever-curious and amused outlook on the daily trials and joys of life, that had me hooked. This book has that delicate quality of seeming simple while containing all the complexity of trying not simply to make a living, but to live."
– LUCY SWEENEY BYRNE

"A remarkable piece of writing ... As a fellow writer, I read the book with a profound sense of respect for what Caitríona has achieved, particularly given the difficult circumstances under which much of this work has been produced. Her account of sustaining a writing life alongside paid labour and motherhood is both unsparing and generous, and it resonated deeply with me ... There is something quietly bracing in encountering such a lucid account of a writing life, one that refuses myth-making while still allowing space for ambition, desire and joy ... This is a generous, intelligent and finely wrought book."
– PATRICK HOLLOWAY
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Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, 'Thou Shalt Not Carry' from The Hare's Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. 

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On today's episode we visit 11 Parnell Square in Dublin for the launch of Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann's restored headquarters. We hear about the new performance spaces, education resources and Seamus Heaney Library and talk to director Claire Power about her vision for the building and the organisation. We also talk to Poet in Residence Sean Borodale about his poetry and his plans for the residency. Sean's widely acclaimed books include Notes for an Atlas, Asylum, Bee Journal, Human Work: A Poet's Cookbook and Inmates.
This episode is supported by a Project Award from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. 
Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, 'Thou Shalt Not Carry' from The Hare's Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. 
Logo designed by Freya Sirr.
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On today’s show we talk to Joseph Woods, director of the Strokestown Poetry Festival about what this year's programme will offer poetry lovers this May Bank Holiday weekend in Strokestown House. Ands we welcome back to the breakfast table poet and Irish Times reviewer Adam Wyeth to talk with us about recent poetry publications that have grabbed his attention. Adam is himself an award-winning and critically acclaimed poet, playwright and essayist with five books published with Salmon Poetry and we are delighted to have him with us this morning.

He will be talking about Rita Ann Higgins, Jiving with Wasps: New and Selected Poems; Gerard Smyth, The Turn for Ithaca; Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Hymn for the Restless Girls; Billy Ramsell, Render; Paddy Bushe, Uncertain Passage; Jamie O'Halloran, Ballast; Colm Scully, Neanderthal Boy. 
This episode is supported by a Project Award from the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. 
Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, 'Thou Shalt Not Carry' from The Hare's Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it. 
Logo designed by Freya Sirr.

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