Books for Breakfast
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.
- Update frequency
- every 14 days
- Average duration
- 43 minutes
- Episodes
- 83
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
62: Strokestown International Poetry Festival
Today’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…
61: Paul Muldoon on his new book; Strokestown shortlisted poets
Today’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 Festiv…
6O: Mary Costello on Barcelona
We’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 … Co…
59: Victoria Kennefick on Egg/Shell
On 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 motherho…
58: Fleur Adcock, Kerry Hardie and Aoife Lyall
On 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 O…
57: Remembering Philip Casey
We're back with a show dedicated to a book commemorating the life and achievement of a fondly remembered writer: Distant Summers: Remembering Philip Casey, Writer, Fabulist, Friend, edi…
{Stanza}
Not Books for Breakfast this time but a link to our poetry programme Stanza on RTE Radio 1.
In conversation with fellow poets, Paula Meehan and Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Enda Wyley and Pe…
56: Summer is icumen in; TCD Writer Fellow James Harpur
We're not back in full podcast mode quite yet but we will be back in the autumn, all going well, and in the meantime we visited poet James Harpur during his stint as Trinity College Wr…
55: Injury Time; A New Basho
Enda has been recovering from a recent injury so podcast productivity has taken a hit, but we're back with our first episode for a while, which features a conversation about Basho with …
54: New Year's Eve 2022 Special
Some of the highlights of this year's Books for Breakfast, featuring contributions by Gabriel Byrne, Thomas McCarthy, Wendy Erskine, Colm Tóibín, Brian Leyden, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, L…
53: Interview with Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
Welcome to a special Books for Breakfast edition this morning to celebrate Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin's 80th birthday. We wish her all the best on this very special day. This is
an edited…
52: IMRAM 2022; Mark Roper's Beyond Stillness
Today we talk to Liam Carson, Director of annual Irish language festival Imram, about this year's programme. And we interview Mark Roper about his latest collection of poems, Beyond Sti…
51: Judith Mok: The State of Dark
On todays’s show we talk to Judith Mok, whose memoir The State of Dark has just been published by Lilliput. Judith Mok was born in the Netherlands, to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.…
50: Love poems for today: a new anthology from Dedalus
Does love poetry still pack a punch? Do new anthologies of love poetry have anything to say about the kind of world we live in? Join us on today’s show to hear some answers as we discus…
49: Critic at Large: Kevin Power's The Written World
What’s the state of criticism in Ireland? Who needs reviewers and critics and are they even worth reading in any case? Well, one man who is worth reading is Kevin Power, novelist, whose…
48: Two Salmon Poets; Trump Rant
Three poetry collections on the breakfast table today ... We begin with Stars Burn Regardless by Jean O'Brien and Moonlight: A Full Moon by Louise C. Callaghan, both published by Salmo…
47: Leland Bardwell at 100
Today's show is a bit special. We're very happy to feature My Name Suspended in Air: Leland Bardwell at 100, published by Lepus Print, to coincide with Poetry Day Ireland 2022. Leland …
46: Colm Tóibín talks about Vinegar Hill
This morning we talk to Colm Tóibín in New York about his debut poetry collection, Vinegar Hill.
From the best-selling author of Brooklyn, Nora Webster, The Master, and the recent The Ma…
45: Wendy Erskine; Ukrainian poetry
44: Paul Lynch's The Black Snow; John McAuliffe on his Selected Poems and Wong May
We begin this weeks's show with In Trust. In Gratitude. In Hope. 10 Years at the Laois Arthouse, an exhibition featuring the work of over 60 artists who have been part of the Laois Arth…