Poems of Mayo
In a 2024 interview, the late poet Michael Longley talks with Olivia O'Leary about his nature poems, inspired by a remote area in the west of Ireland that he visited for decades.
The Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a lifetime to the art of poetry and won numerous poetry prizes.
In this episode of The Essay, first broadcast in 2024, he described his refuge from the city streets of Belfast in County Mayo, in one of the most remote and beautiful parts of the west of Ireland. He had been writing about its nature and landscape for over 50 years and it provided endless inspiration for poems. In more recent years he recognised the threat of climate change and he expresses the hope that younger generations will take greater care of the world.
He reads his poems The Leveret, Remembering Carrigskeewaun, Stonechat and The Comber from his collection Ash Keys: New Selected Poems (Cape Poetry), published to mark his 85th birthday on 27th July 2024, and Merlin from his collection The Slain Birds.
Presenter: Olivia O'Leary
Producer: Claire Cunningham
Executive Producer: Regan Hutchins
Michael Longley's Life of Poetry is a Rockfinch production for 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 3.
On radio
Broadcasts
- Thu 11 Jul 2024 21:45麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 3
- Thu 13 Feb 2025 21:45麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 3
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