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
23: 40 Years of Salmon Poetry; Bachelard's images; Cathy Belton
This week we begin by looking at Days of Clear Light, a festschrift in honour of Salmon Press founder Jessie Lendennie to celebrate 40 years of the poetry press. Peter reflects on a fav…
22: New and recent poetry; Michael O'Loughlin's Liberty Hall; in search of lost gods
In this episode we look at new and recent poetry collections, which we list below. And our Toaster Challenge guest is Michael O’Loughlin whose new book of poetry and prose, Liberty Hal…
21: Fiction for 2021; Berryman's letters; African American poetry
Welcome to Books for Breakfast in 2021! We begin the year with a look at some noteworthy fiction from new and familiar writers. Books mentioned are:
The Art of Falling by Danielle McLau…
20: Christmas Special: Paula Meehan, Tara Bergin, Pessoa's disquiet, Dublin's 20th century buildings, new poems.
This is our bumper Christmas episode, featuring two Toaster Challenges with Tara Bergin and Paula Meehan respectively. Paula also discusses her recently published As If By Magic: Selec…
19: IMRAM's magical films; forging Dracula with Henrietta McKervey
IMRAM is a longstanding festival that celebrates writing in Irish. This year sees it going digital with an enticing series of 'magical film' featuring translations of Ovid, Rilke's Dui…
18: Poems for Winter; Kathleen MacMahon, Helen Garner.
It’s not quite winter yet but we thought we’d begin with some poems to get us in the mood for the approaching season. Thanks to John O’Donnell, Jean O’Brien, Jane Clarke and Mark Grani…
17: Fuggedaboutit: dictionaries and languages; on the wild side with Seán Lysaght and Dara McAnulty
Are dictionaries still important? Who uses them? How does new words get into a dictionary? Are they ever kicked out? Today's show features a discussion of an important new addition to …
16: Hilary Mantel: Giants and Ghosts; Books for Younger Readers
Who are the people who keep a love of books alive in our city and in our communities? Our Toaster Challenge guest is Bernadette Larkin who has extensive experience in literature and art…
15: Shirts for books; Kerry Hardie; The Radetzky March
This morning, to mark Irish Book Week, we go on a virtual tour of Dublin bookshops past and present. Our Toaster Challenge guest is Kerry Hardie, whose new poetry collection, Where Now …
14: Derek Mahon, Louise Glück, The Great Hunger; Neil Hegarty
This morning's episode pays tribute to the late Derek Mahon, one of Ireland's finest poets, and also considers the work of Louise Glück who has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Lit…
13: The latest Ferrante; Mary O’Donnell; the poem that wouldn’t go away
Today we look at one of the most famous poems of the twentieth century as we consider Ian Sansom’s brilliantly entertaining book about the poem and the poet, September 1, 1939: W.H. Aud…
12: The other Elizabeth Taylor; Sarah Bannan; Lee Harwood
This week we delve into the fiction, and particularly the short stories of the other Elizabeth Taylor. Our Toaster Challenge guest is novelist and Arts Council Head of Literature Sarah…
11: Owen Roe: An actor calls; 32 Words for Field
On this morning's show we discuss Manchán Magan's newly published Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost words of the Irish landscape, and our Toaster Challenge guest is the widely acclaimed …
10: Zadie Smith; Caitriona Lally: Driving on Eggshells; Michael Hartnett
Today's show opens with a discussion of Zadie Smith's lockdown essays, Intimations; our Toaster Challenge guest is Caitriona Lally, author of the award-winning Eggshells, and we also fe…
9: Death and Nightingales; Joe Woods; Kathleen Jamie's Scots accent of the mind
This week features a celebration of the work of Eugene McCabe, who died in August, with particular focus on his timeless novel Death and Nightingales. Our Toaster Challenge guest is poe…
8: Birdcage Walk; Olivia O'Leary; A Legendary Dinner
Today's show features Helen Dunmore's final novel Birdcage Walk and her poetry collection Inside the Wave. Our Toaster Challenge guest is journalist and broadcaster Olivia O'Leary, and…
7: What You Don't Want to Know; Adam Wyeth; Coming Close to Charles Simic
Today’s show features Deborah Levy’s Things I Don’t Want to Know, Flights by Olga Tocarczuk; the Toaster Challenge guest is poet and playwright Adam Wyeth. We also discuss Charles Simic…
6: Country Pursuits, Marianne Lee's A Quiet Tide, Poetry from Sweden
This morning's show features an excursion into the country in the company of a favourite novel of Enda's, J.L Carr's A Month in the Country. Toaster Challenge guest debut novelist Maria…
5: The Art of Seeing, Short Stories, Poetry and Place
This morning we consider two books concerned with the arts of looking and seeing:
On Looking: a walker's guide to the art of observation by Alexandra Horowitz, and Ditch Vision: essays o…
4: Cities, languages, elegies; Philip Davison
This week we console ourselves by looking at books about people and places, our Toaster Challenge guest is Philip Davison whose novel Quiet City has recently been published by Liberties…