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Irish Independent
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Tributes flow for ‘unflinchingly honest' poet Paul Durcan on his death at age 80
Mr Durcan who was born in Dublin in 1944, was one of Ireland's best known contemporary poets. He published more than 20 books and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award at the Irish Book Awards in 2014. He was hailed as an unflinchingly honest and witty poetic voice by Tánaiste Simon Harris. 'In the quiet spaces of ordinary moments, he found inspiration. His body of work was both accessible and deep, and this is shown in his fantastic final selection of 80 of his finest poems, published in celebration of his 80th birthday last year,' he said in a tribute. 'With his passing, Ireland has lost one of its most distinctive and authentic voices — and his work, which often turned the mundane into the extraordinary, will live on for generations.' The Poetry Society, which publishes The Poetry Review, described Paul Durcan as 'an extraordinary storyteller'. Mr Durcan won many accolades, including the Patrick Kavanagh Award in 1975. His family said he would be sadly missed by his wife Nessa and his daughters Sarah and Siabhra, his son Michael and his sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, and his nine grandchildren. Speaking to the Irish Times, his daughter Siabhra said that her father's passing was 'very sudden' but that he had been unwell in recent years.
The Journal
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Irish poet Paul Durcan has died aged 80
FAMED POET PAUL Durcan has died at the age of 80. Durcan is one of Ireland's best known contemporary poets. Born in October 1944, his most recent collection of poetry published was titled '80 at 80′ last year, in honour of his birthday. Tánaiste Simon Harris said in a short statement posted to X, 'Paul Durcan was unflinchingly honest, witty and one of Ireland's best poetic voices. 'With his passing, Ireland has lost one of its most distinctive and authentic voices – and his work, which often turned the mundane into the extraordinary, will live on for generations.' Advertisement The Poetry Society, which publishes The Poetry Review, said, 'We're sad to hear the news of the death of Irish poet Paul Durcan, aged 80 – an extraordinary storyteller'. Minister for Arts and Culture Patrick O'Donovan also said he was 'saddened' to hear of the poet's passing. Author Colm Tóibín last year said of Durcan and his work, in an essay published in The Irish Times , 'The poems can also be daring, directly personal as well as directly political. It is hard to think of another poet in these islands who has written such searing poems against violence and cruelty and the politics of hate. 'It is also difficult to think of another male poet who has written such brave works of self-examination.' This is a breaking story with more to follow Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Impressive, ingenious and affecting' poem about missing an absent son wins National Poetry Competition
A poem inspired by the writer's experience missing her son after he moved from the UK to Australia has won this year's £5,000 National Poetry Competition. Fiona Larkin's poem, Absence has a grammar, was picked from nearly 22,000 entries. 'It feels a bit like a lottery win, because the odds are so high,' said Larkin. When she got the call with the news, she felt both a 'sense of disbelief' and 'weirdly buoyant – that floating sense of something happening'. After her son moved to Brisbane, Larkin had been 'really taken aback' by how much she missed him. 'I rarely write about my children, I think they've maybe got one poem each now,' said Larkin. Her son hadn't read the poem until Larkin found out she'd won the competition. 'He's delighted for me. I reckon he's probably a little bit embarrassed as well.' The poem incorporates the Finnish language, which Larkin had begun reading about before going to Helsinki last summer, around the time that her son moved. Her poem plays with the abessive case, which is used to express absence and involves adding the suffix -tta or -ttä on to nouns. 'I'm really interested in the way knowledge of other languages shines a light on English,' she said. Larkin's debut collection, Rope of Sand, was published in 2023. She has also published two pamphlets, Vital Capacity and A Dovetail of Breath. Winning the competition 'will give me more confidence with my writing going forward in terms of experimenting and trying out new things'. She is working on a second collection. All the poems were read anonymously by a judging panel comprising Romalyn Ante, John McAuliffe and Stephen Sexton, who described the winning poem as 'very impressive, ingenious and affecting'. Matt Barnard was named as the runner-up, winning £2,000, while third place went to Sorrel Briggs, who receives £1,000. The top three poems will be published in the spring 2025 issue of the Poetry Society's journal, The Poetry Review. Seven commended poets, winning £500 each, are Yong-Yu Huang, Lee Knapper, Hannah Perrin King, Lesley Sharpe, Chris Beckett, Kit Buchan and Andrew Dennison. Past winners of the competition include Carol Ann Duffy, Sinéad Morrissey, James Berry and Tony Harrison. Last year, Imogen Wade won the award for a poem inspired by her experience being mugged in New York. The competition will next open in June. I am learning to use the abessive case as if I were Finnish, to indicate that what I miss is so much a part of me that its loss is structural. Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion The suffix -tta turns a word into a shadow of itself. Emptied of substance, light blows through it. I think of moonshine, of a bottle of Koskenkorva, the Finns' national liquor, renamed Koskenkorvattawhen there's none I howl. Itkin syyttä means 'I cried without reason,' but when a child is away there is reason enough. Tonight itkin syyttä. If I join -tta to son it impels me to write this – not a sonata, nor sonnet, but still, of course, a little song of longing. With thanks to Diego Marani for Koskenkorvatta.
