Kerry Hardie interviews & poem features from Where Now Begins
'Kerry Hardie's Where Now Begins is full of dark, exact lyricism. The beautiful lyrics circle around absences, pulsing with metaphysical contemplation.' - Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times (Best Poetry Books of 2020)
Irish poet Kerry Hardie's eighth collection Where Now Begins was published by Bloodaxe Books on 12 November 2020. Kerry gave an online launch reading from the collection on 17 November, together with fellow Bloodaxe poets David Constantine and Bill Herbert - see video below.
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An interview with Kerry Hardie features on the Island's Edge website here.
A poem from Where Now Begins features in the November 2020 issue of Standpoint magazine here.
Kerry was interviewed on Peter Sirr and Enda Wylie's Books for Breakfast podcast on Thursday 22 October. She talked about her collection Where Now Begins and read her poems 'Crow-light' and 'Inishmaan' from the book. She also took on the 'toaster challenge' and spoke about one of her favourite novels - Philip Roth's The Radetzky March. The podcast has been posted here.
Four poems from Where Now Begins are featured on Trasna, a website introducing Irish writers to an American readership, accompanied by audio of Kerry reading the poems. See here.
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IRISH RADIO INTERVIEWS
The Poetry Programme, RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday 24 January 2021, 7.30pm
Kerry Hardie travelled to Dublin in December to record an interview for The Poetry Programme. This 18-minute conversation with Olivia O’Leary was broadcast on 24 January. They discussed the ‘dark lyricism’ [Irish Times] of this collection.
Kerry read her poems ‘Crow-light’, ‘Coats’, ‘Now’, ‘Tide-turn on the Brittany Coast’ and ‘Civil War Aftermath’ from Where Now Begins. The latter poem was inspired by Catalan poet Joan Margarit, who is also published by Bloodaxe.
Listen here (1st item).
Arena, RTÉ Radio 1, Tuesday 15 December 2020, 7-8pm
Kerry Hardie was interviewed live down the line on RTE Radio 1’s week nightly arts show Arena on 15 December. She was talking to Seán Rocks and read her poems ‘Shopping’ and ‘Taking the Weight’ from her eighth collection Where Now Begins.
This 11-minute interview is available as a podcast. Listen here.
BOOKS OF THE YEAR FEATURES
The Irish Times, Poetry Books of the Year, in print 12 December, online 15 December 2020
Four Bloodaxe titles were chosen by The Irish Times’ poetry critics for their best poetry books of the year feature.
'Kerry Hardie's Where Now Begins is full of dark, exact lyricism. The beautiful lyrics circle around absences, pulsing with metaphysical contemplation.' - Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times (Best Poetry Books of 2020)
Online in full by subscription. Read here.
Sunday Independent, Books of the Year, Sunday 13 December 2020
Kerry Hardie’s eighth collection Where Now Begins was one of Enda Wyley’s choices in the Sunday Independent’s 13 December books of the year feature.
‘New poetry collections that inspired me included Kerry Hardie's Where Now Begins (Bloodaxe) for its fragility and courage…’ – Enda Wyley, Sunday Independent (Books of the Year 2020)
Read the full feature here.
Our City, Our Books, Books of the Year, online 27 December 2020
‘A book of enormous heart, fragility and courage, very aware of the cycles of life and decay, the wax and wane of seasons, and shot through with a sense of the fragility of life. These finely crafted poems grabbed our attention this year and make a wonderful companion to Kerry Hardie’s previous seven collections, including her Selected Poems, published in 2011.’ - Peter Sirr and Enda Wyley, Books for Breakfast podcast hosts, Our City Our Books (Top 10 Poetry Books of 2020) on Where Now Begins
Enda Wyley and Peter Sirr had interviewed Kerry on their Books for Breakfast podcast on 22 October - see link above.
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REVIEW COVERAGE
Where Now Begins was reviewed by Seán Hewitt in The Irish Times of 14 November 2020. Online in full by subscription here.
'These, certainly, are poems which speak skilfully to (and from) our times.' - Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times
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Kerry Hardie reading from Where Now Begins at the Imagine Arts Festival Waterford
Kerry Hardie gave a pre-publication reading from Where Now Begins for Waterford Writers Weekend at the Imagine Arts Festival. A film of her reading to an empty auditorium at the Theatre Royal Waterford was released on 22 October in place of the live event that had been planned. She read seven poems from the book.
Launch reading for Where Now Begins
David Constantine, Kerry Hardie and W.N. (Bill) Herbert celebrated the publication of their new poetry collections from Bloodaxe at a live streamed event on 17 November 2020, hosted by editor Neil Astley.
[22 October 2020]
