Books for Breakfast

Oct 31 2024 68 ep. 42 mins 11
Books for Breakfast Podcast artwork

A podcast focussing on fiction and poetry hosted by poets and writers Peter Sirr and Enda Wyley. Also features the Toaster Challenge where guest writers are given the time it takes to make toast to talk about a book that has resonated with them. 

  Arts
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


67: IMRAM festival, Kelly Michels' American Anthem

Oct 31 2024 54 mins  
Send us a textFirst up on today's show, I chat with Liam Carson, who is back again with another episode of the Irish language Festival, IMRAM. And we hear from Kelly Michels, whose Forward Prize shortlisted debut collection, American Anthem, published by Gallery Press this year, focuses on the tragedies both personal and national, of the opioid epidemic and its devastating effects

66: Mícheál McCann and Katie Donovan

Oct 02 2024 38 mins  
Send us a textToday's show features conversation and poems from two poets with new collections: Katie Donovan, whose collection May Swim, is published by Bloodaxe Books, and Micheál McCann, whose debut collection Devotion, is published by Gallery Press.Both poets take on the Toaster Challenge, this time a Toaster Poem Challenge. Micheál' choce is Louise Glück's 'Sunset' from her

65: Christine Dwyer Hickey, Alba de Cespedes, Catullus

Sep 04 2024 51 mins  
Send us a textWe're back from the summer break and in conversation with Christine Dwyer Hickey, who was the subject of our very first Books for Breakfast podcast. This time around we're talking to her about her latest novel Our London Lives, just published this week. We also give ourselves a double Toaster Challenge. Enda talks about Alba de Cespedes' Roman novel Forbidden Notebook

64: Summer journals, Tessa Hadley, Noel Monahan

Jun 05 2024 41 mins  
Send us a textOn today's edition, the last before our summer break, we look at new editions of Poetry Ireland Review and The Stinging Fly. We feature recordings of three poets published in Poetry Ireland Review: Valentine Jones, Patrick Chapman and Shakeema Edwards, and we also feature a poem by Gormfhlaith Ní Shíocháin Ní Bheoláin from The Stinging Fly. Enda discusses the nov

63: Neil Astley on Soul Feast and more

May 15 2024 39 mins  
Send us a textOn today's show we interview poet, novelist and publisher of Bloodaxe Books Neil Astley. We talk to Neil about the latest Bloodaxe Books poetry anthology, Soul Feast, poems to stir the mind and feed the spirit, companion volume to 2007's Soul Food. We also talk about how he got into publishing, what poetry means to him and some of the discoveries he's made along the w

62: Strokestown International Poetry Festival

May 02 2024 40 mins  
Send us a textToday’s show marks 25 years since the foundation of the Strokestown International Poetry Festival in Co. Roscommon. This year’s festival takes place over the May Bank weekend, May 3 - 5. We spoke to the Director, Joseph Woods about the festival and his new book, Veld Fires. We also feature poems by Eva Bourke whose Tattoos was published this year, and Patrick Deel

61: Paul Muldoon on his new book; Strokestown shortlisted poets

Apr 24 2024 49 mins  
Send us a textToday’s show marks Poetry Day Ireland with readings by the five poets shortlisted for the Strokestown International Poetry Competion, the winner of which will be announced at the Festival over the May Bank Holiday Weekend. And we go the Trinity College Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation to talk to poet Paul Muldoon about his role as Ireland Professor of Po

6O: Mary Costello on Barcelona

Apr 03 2024 36 mins  
Send us a textWe’re joined on this morning’s show by Mary Costello, whose new collection of short stories, Barcelona, has just been published by Canongate."Barcelona is full of devastating lines … Costello is working in the tradition of her literary heroes [Kafka, Musil, Coetzee]: delivering insights which are painful but also energising because of the beauty with which they'

59: Victoria Kennefick on Egg/Shell

Mar 14 2024 35 mins  
Send us a textOn this mornings's show we talk to Victoria Kennefrick about her new collection Egg/Shell, just published by Carcanet, a double album, as she describes it, which explores early motherhood and miscarriage, and the impact of a spouse's gender transition and the dissolution of a marriage. The book is a follow-up to her widely acclaimed first collection Eat or We Both Sta

58: Fleur Adcock, Kerry Hardie and Aoife Lyall

Feb 29 2024 31 mins  
Send us a textOn today's show we discuss Fleur Adcock's Collected Poems, newly published by Bloodaxe Books, and we go to the launch of two more Bloodaxe books in Hodges Figgis, Kerry Hardie's We Go On and Aoife Lyall's The Day Before. We talk to both poets about their work and listen to them reading their poems. So put the kettle on and join us!Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomai