Southword Poetry Podcast
The Southword Poetry Podcast is produced by the Munster Literature Centre. Each episode, a guest poet talks in depth about their latest work and shares a few of their poems. We also hear a poem from a recent issue of the literary journal Southword. Sarah Byrne hosted the 2022 season. Clíona Ní Ríordáin hosted the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Poets were selected by the hosts, Patrick Cotter and James O’Leary. The Munster Literature Centre is a grateful recipient of funding from the Arts Council of Ireland and the Arts Office of Cork City Council.
Southword Poetry Podcast
Gerry Murphy: The Humours of Nothingness
(00:00) – Clíona Ní Ríordáin and Patrick Cotter discussion
(08:38) – Gerry Murphy interview
(47:21) – Southword poem, Mrs. Violet Club by Polina Cosgrave
Gerry Murphy is an Irish poet, born in Cork in 1952. His first poetry collection was A Small Fat Boy Walking Backwards (1985, 1992). He has since published many collections with The Dedalus Press including Rio de la Plata and All That (1993), The Empty Quarter (1995), Extracts from the Lost Log-Book of Christopher Columbus (1999), Torso of an Ex-Girlfriend (2002), My Flirtation with International Socialism (2010), Muse (2015) and The Humours of Nothingness (2020). He has published two chapbooks with Southword Editions, Kissing Maura O’Keeffe (2019) and My Life as a Stalinist (2018). Murphy’s poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Poetry Ireland Review, The Well Review and The Future (Arlen House, 2018). Pocket Apocalypse, his translations of the Polish poet Katarzyna Borun-Jagodzinska, appeared in 2005 from Southword Editions. Murphy’s own poems form the basis for a live poetry-and-music show by Crazy Dog Audio Theatre, entitled The People’s Republic of Gerry Murphy, which ran at the Cork Guinness Jazz Festival in 2010 to considerable critical success.
This week's Southword poem is 'Mrs. Violet Club' by Polina Cosgrave, which appears in issue 45. You can buy single issues, subscribe, or find out how to submit to Southword here.
