Thomas Lynch on BBC Radio 4's Front Row & RTE Radio 1's Arena
'Strangers to Lynch’s work will find Bone Rosary an eloquent introduction, while enthusiasts will find new wonders in his evening eloquence.’ – Martyn Halsall, Church Times
Poet, essayist and funeral director Thomas Lynch has published five critically acclaimed collections of poetry, four books of essays and a book of short fiction. His retrospective Bone Rosary was published by Bloodaxe in June 2022 and shows the passage of his work over time, ‘a pilgrimage of sorts through growing old and facing death – subjects that caregivers know all too well. Lynch’s upfront, unvarnished style is likely to resonate with many who have come face to face with life’s most important questions’ (Mary Plummer, New York Times).
Thomas Lynch divides his time between his home on Mullett Lake in Northern Michigan and his ancestral home in Moveen, Co. Clare, Ireland. He was in the UK to launch Bone Rosary: New & Selected Poems at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in July 2022, followed by a series of readings in Ireland. His joint live-streamed launch event with Bloodaxe Books is now on YouTube - see video below.
REVIEW COVERAGE
An excellent review of Irish-American poet-undertaker Thomas Lynch’s retrospective Bone Rosary: New & Selected Poems featured at the top of Martyn Halsall’s poetry review round-up in the Church Times of 31 March 2023.
‘Bone Rosary, which combines work from five previous collections, published across some 30 years, with 42 more recent poems, is a celebration of a well-written life, combined with elements of eulogy, and obituary… Strangers to Lynch’s work will find Bone Rosary an eloquent introduction, while enthusiasts will find new wonders in his evening eloquence.’ – Martyn Halsall, Church Times
Read online via the Church Times website here.
'Few poets offer such variety of subject and tone as Thomas Lynch through the 40 years of writing covered in this book. His development is testament to an openness to ordinary experience... Lynch’s is a personal, idiosyncratic journey... partly down to his lifelong trade: as not only an undertaker himself, but the son of one, the father to others, it’s no surprise to find him, through six published books, much preoccupied with death. He is one of Larkin’s less deceived, an unlikely candidate to be taken in by the rosy tints of optimistic sentiment.' - Martyn Crucefix, The High Window, on Bone Rosary
INTERVIEW ON RTÉ RADIO 1
Arena, RTÉ Radio 1, Tuesday 9 August 2022, 7-8pm
Irish-American poet-undertaker Thomas Lynch was interviewed on RTE Radio 1’s week-nightly arts programme Arena on 9 August. He was in conversation with host Seán Rocks down the line from the US. He was discussing his newly-published retrospective Bone Rosary: New & Selected Poems, which represents nearly forty years of work in poetry, all of it deeply indebted to his experiences over more than half a century, coming and going to and from Moveen in Co. Clare. He read 'Corrine Among the Fronds of Basil' from the section of new poems.
Listen via Arena's webpages here. Thomas Lynch features from 19:30. The interview is available as a separate chapter on Arena's webpages here.
INTERVIEW ON BBC RADIO 4's FRONT ROW
An interview with Thomas Lynch was broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Front Row on 25 July 2022. He was speaking to Shahidha Bari down the line from County Clare. He read and introduced two poems from Bone Rosary: New & Selected Poems: 'Corpses Do Not Fret Their Coffin Boards' and 'Corrine Among the Fronds of Basil' - the latter from the section of new poems.
'Thomas Lynch is an American poet with strong connections to Ireland. He is, too, an undertaker, a career that has informed his verse and essays, which dwell on life and death, faith and doubt, and also place. From his ancestral cottage in County Clare Lynch talks to Shahidha Bari about these things and reads from Bone Rosary, his New and Selected poems, just out.'
Listen via the Front Row website here. Thomas features from 22:30.
IN PERSON LAUNCH EVENT AT LEDBURY POETRY FESTIVAL, JULY 2022
Thomas launched Bone Rosary in person at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in July 2022. Audio of the event is available on Ledbury Poetry Player here. Thomas features from 26:00.
JOINT LIVE-STREAMED LAUNCH EVENT ON 21 JUNE 2022
Thomas launched his collection Bone Rosary alongside fellow Bloodaxe poets Anne Rouse and André Naffis-Sahely at the online launch event for our June 2022 titles on 21 June 2022.
[25 July 2022]
