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The Poetry Programme

Pat Boran Image Name: Pat Boran

The first programme in the new series brings us back to the sun-drenched days of July when Poetry Programme presenter Olivia O’Leary hosted three live events, which were produced by Poetry Ireland in association with the Office of Public Works.

The events were recorded for the Poetry Programme, and the programme on Sunday 16th September brings us readings, interviews and music from the first performance, which took place in the dining room of Emo Court, Co Laois. Olivia’s guests on the night were poets Kerry Hardie and Pat Boran, and uilleann piper David Power.

Kerry Hardie was born in 1951 and grew up in County Down. She now lives in County Kilkenny with her husband, the writer Seán Hardie. Her poems have won numerous prizes and her poems have featured in six Bloodaxe anthologies. She has also published six collections with Gallery Press.  Her seventh collection, The Zebra Stood in the Night, was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2014 and shortlisted for the Irish Times–Poetry Now Award.

Poet, writer and broadcaster Pat Boran is one of the best-known of his generation of Irish poets. He has published more than a dozen books of poetry and prose, among them Waveforms: Bull Island Haiku (2015) and A Man is Only As Good: A Pocket Selected Poems (2017), as well as the humorous memoir The Invisible Prison (2009), and the popular writers’ handbook The Portable Creative Writing Workshop, now in its fourth edition.

Uilleann piper David Power enthralled the audience at Emo Court with his piping that opened and closed the evening (although his tin whistle playing rather startled the snoozing guide dog).

Both poets taking part in the performance at Emo Court also recorded videos of some readings of their work, which you can see at www.vimeo.com/rockfinch

Later in the new series of the Poetry Programme , we will hear from some of our best known poets and some up and coming voices, poets from Ireland and poets from farther afield.

The Poetry Programme is a Rockfinch production for RTÉ. Series Producer: Claire Cunningham.