PAUL DURCAN'S DIARY

Walking alone in the streets of the world, Paul Durcan has taken the listener on an exhilarating journey. From Enniscorthy to New York, from Irishtown to Iraq, the "news of the day that's in it" is distilled through the poet's eye, at times deeply personal, at times reflective, at times abundant and sensual: his ailing mother "a small, spilt sea wooing moon": a passing ship at Ringsend " like a vast crate floating in the middle of a raindrop"; the hawthorn trees of the midlands "blossoming baking powder white over all the meadows." Broadcast on RTE Radio 1's Today with Pat Kenny over the last three years, Paul Durcan's Diary speaks weekly to the nation. Part autobiography, part opinion and reflection, defence and accusation, Paul Durcan's Diary is collected her for the very first time.