Jane Clarke interviews, books of the year & poem features for When the Tree Falls
Three poems by Irish poet Jane Clarke were read and discussed on the Scottish Poetry Library’s Nothing But The Poem podcast. Host Aoife Lyall (another Irish poet published by Bloodaxe) summarised the discussions that had taken place at the SPL’s Nothing But The Poem monthly reading group, and she began each section of the podcast by reading the poem she goes on to talk about. The three poems discussed in this podcast are ‘When Winter Comes’ and ‘Hers’, both from When the Tree Falls, and ‘Daily Bread’ from Jane Clarke’s debut The River.
‘Jane Clarke is the latest subject of the Nothing But The Poem podcast. Jane Clarke is an Irish poet; the author of three poetry collections and an illustrated poetry booklet. Our regular podcast host Sam Tongue is currently on paternity leave and this edition has Bloodaxe poet Aoife Lyall taking an immersive look into three of Jane Clarke’s poems, which were discussed at the online monthly meet-up of the Nothing But The Poem group.’
‘When Winter Comes’ is the first poem read and discussed. ‘Hers’ features from 9.19, and ‘Daily Bread’ from 18:05.
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/nothing-but-the-poem-jane-clarke/
A recording of Jane Clarke reading her poem ‘The Yellow Jumper’ from When the Tree Falls was played on RTE Radio 1's CountryWide on 21 January, introduced by the new presenter Philip Boucher-Hayes.
‘Poet Jane Clarke reads her poem 'The Yellow Jumper', a reflection on gift giving.’
Culture File Weekly, RTÉ Lyric FM, Saturday 3 December 2022, 6.30pm
This lovely event was recorded live at the Dublin Book Festival in the National Botanic Gardens, and was broadcast on RTÉ Lyric FM on 3 December 2022.
Nature Nights: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, RTÉ Radio 1, Wednesday 2 November 2022, 10.50-11pm
Jane Clarke read three poems on Brother Sun, Sister Moon, part of RTE Radio 1’s week-long series of late-night programmes on nature and biodiversity, Nature Nights.
Jane read her poems 'The Dipper' and ‘Shepherd’ from her forthcoming third collection A Change in the Air, and ‘Cypress’ from When the Tree Falls.
‘John Connell, poet Jane Clarke and environmental campaigner Lorna Gold read from their own work and classical writings on themes of nature and reflect on how the natural world has inspired artists since ancient times.’
Jane read ‘The Dipper’ at 00:54, ‘Shepherd’ at 02:07 and ‘Cypress’ at 05:13. Listen here.
Jane Clarke was Resident Poet for the Nature Nights series. Her poems were threaded into other programmes during the week.
Nature Nights: My Farm at Night, RTÉ Radio 1, Thursday 3 November 2022, 10pm
Jane Clarke’s recording of her poem 'Among the Cows' from her debut collection The River was used at the end of a piece by farmer and broadcaster Hannah Quinn-Mulligan.
Jane read her poem at 06:28. Listen here.
JANE CLARKE INTERVIEW ON RTE RADIO 1’s COUNTRYWIDE
CountryWide, RTE Radio 1, Saturday 12 June 2021 & Saturday 6 November 2021, Saturday 8 January 2022, Saturday 16 April 2022, 8.10-9am
Jane Clarke has recorded a number of poems for RTE Radio 1’s farming and rural life programme CountryWide. The first of these, ‘Camping at Bearna’ from When the Tree Falls, was broadcast on 12 June 2021. The poem was introduced by presenter Damien O’Reilly and ran as the final item in the programme.
The second poem, ‘That I could’ from When the Tree Falls, aired on 6 November. Jane gave a very moving reading of her poem, which presenter Damien O'Reilly linked to the suffering of so many people during the pandemic. ‘That I could’ was also featured as Poem of the Week in The Yorkshire Times of 12 October 2021. Read in full here.
Jane Clarke recorded her new poem ‘Fences’ especially for CountryWide. It was broadcast near the end of the programme on 8 January 2022. It is included in her third collection A Change in the Air.
'Fences', 8 January 2022. Listen here.
‘That I could’, 6 November 2021. Listen here.
'Camping at Bearna', 12 June 2021. Listen here.
Jane has recorded her new poem ‘Eggs’ for CountryWide. It was broadcast near the end of the programme on 16 April 2022 – Easter Saturday. The poem will be published in Jane’s third collection A Change in the Air, forthcoming in May 2023.
'Eggs', 16 April 2022. Listen here.
Jane Clarke’s interview on CountryWide from 6 June 2020 is still available as a podcast. She took a walk with Ella McSweeney in the hills near her home in Glenmalure and spoke about what inspires her poetry. Listen here.
The Bar of Ireland invited Jane Clarke to do a podcast interview for them about her commissioned poem ‘In the Four Courts’. She spoke about the poem, the process and about poetry in general.
Averil Deverell was from Co Wicklow, where Jane Clarke has lived for over twenty years. The poem coincides with The Bar of Ireland’s celebrations of 100 Years of Women at the Bar. Jane read the poem at both the beginning and at the end of the podcast.
‘Poet Jane Clarke talks to her poem, ‘In the Four Courts’, commissioned by Wicklow Arts Office, to celebrate the legacy of Averil Deverell; one of the first female barristers called to the Irish Bar in 1921.’
Jane Clarke was the guest on the Royal Irish Academy’s podcast Shelfmarks of 24 October. Zoë Comyns went to meet Jane at home in Co Wicklow in August and they spent the morning making this recording, and taking a walk.
Jane spoke about finding inspiration from the landscapes of Roscommon, Wicklow and the Mourne Mountains, and from the people who inhabit those landscapes both now and in the past. She talked about how to Co Wicklow 25 years ago prompted her to start writing, and how ‘emotion, memory and imagination’ work together in her work. Jane read her new poem ‘Flowers from the Hills’, written for her sick mother during the first lockdown when she was unable to visit her. The newly-commissioned poems she read were ‘When he was a boy’, about her shepherd neighbor, and another inspired by the stone masons who used to work in the Mourne Mountains. Her grandmother was from County Down. ‘When he was a boy’ is now called ‘Shepherd’ and will be published in Jane's forthcoming third collection A Change in the Air.
‘Zoë’s guest this week on Shelfmarks is poet Jane Clarke. Jane grew up in Co Roscommon and came to writing after a career in psychotherapy. She moved to Wicklow almost 25 years ago and Zoë visited her there in her home and took a walk up a lane known as Fairy Lane or Lousy Land and listeners will hear two specially commissioned poems about her neighbour and quarrymen.’
Jane features from 7:50. Listen here.
‘Her work possesses a rare clarity and simplicity that gently resonates with the rhythms of nature and cycles of life.’ - Catherine Nunes, The Shaking Bog Podcast
Listen here. Jane is introduced at 02:54.
Jane Clarke's poem ‘That I could’ from her second collection When the Tree Falls was featured as Poem of the Week in The Yorkshire Times of 12 October 2021. Read in full here. Steve Whitaker also reviewed the book in 2019 here.
‘A truly remarkable poem in a book of tendersweet elegies, ‘That I could’ whispers to the root of emotional connection, and finds an echo deep in the pastures of Roscommon.’ – Steve Whitaker, Poem of the Week, The Yorkshire Times
‘Blue Cards’ from When the Tree Falls was featured as Pick of the Week on the Best American Poetry 2021 blog on 10 October 2021, edited by Terence Winch. Read here.
Jane's poem 'When winter comes' from When the Tree Falls was discussed by Carol Rumens in her Guardian Poem of the Week column here.
JANE CLARKE READS NEW POEMS ON SUNDAY MISCELLANY
Sunday Miscellany, RTE Radio 1, Sunday 12 September 2021, 9.10-10am
Jane Clarke read her new poem ‘The Lookout’ on Sunday Miscellany on 12 September. This is the third of three new poems by Jane Clarke featured on the programme. 'The Lookout' is included in Jane's third collection A Change in the Air.
Available as a podcast, illustrated with a portrait of Jane Clarke. Listen here.
Still available:
Jane read her new love poem ‘22nd of June’ on Sunday Miscellany on 27 June 2021. Listen here. This poem is now called 'June' and is the final poem in her third collection A Change in the Air,
Jane Clarke read her poem about Nora Barnacle on Sunday Miscellany’s Bloomsday special on 13 June 2021.‘Night Boat, North Wall Quay’ was a commission for the Bloomsday Festival in 2020. Listen here.
RTE ONE TV INTERVIEW WITH JANE CLARKE ON NATIONWIDE
Nationwide: Wicklow Mountains, RTE One TV, Friday 23 October 2020, 7pm
An interview with poet Jane Clarke opened RTE One’s Nationwide on 23 October. This edition of the programme is devoted to things to see and do around the Wicklow Mountains, including the Miners’ Way long distance path.Former miner Robbie Carter told his story of the explosion in the last working mine at Glendasan, and Jane Clarke read her poem that he inspired – ‘Foxrock Mine’. They were both filmed on location at the disused mine.
'Foxrock Mine' was one of a sequence of new poems the Jane Clarke wrote especially for the BBC Radio 4 programme she presented in May 2020, The Miners’ Way, in which she walked the 19km path and interviewed people connected with the mine along the way: former miner Robbie Carter, as well as local historian Carmel O'Toole and sheep farmer Pat Dunne - also interviewed on Nationwide. The 'Pit Ponies of Glendasan' sequence will be published in Jane's third collection A Change in the Air,
Watch here. First item.
For more on Jane's sequence of poems about the disused mines of Co Wicklow, and the Radio 4 programme she presented, see: https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/news?articleid=1025
RTE commissioned Jane Clarke to write a new poem for a special concert to support artists during this time of Covid-19. It was broadcast on RTE television on the 29th August. Irish/Sierra Leonean ArtSoul musician & actress Loah read Jane’s poem ‘Little Tern Colony, Kilcoole’. The concert was broadcast on RTE Radio the following day. It was RTE's pick of the day on 29 August. This hour of music and words filmed at the Iveagh Gardens, the National Concert Hall and at RTÉ over the summer. Threaded throughout, there is powerful commissioned spoken word and poetry from John Boyne, Jane Clarke and others.
A video of Loah reading the poem can be seen via RTE One’s facebook page here.
RTE have photographed the artists taking part in the shine concert for a digital gallery. Jane was invited to go to Dublin at the end of August 2020 to be filmed reading her new poem ‘Little Tern Colony, Kilcoole’. The digital gallery accompanying Jane's poem features a stunning photographic portrait of Jane, the text of the poem, her introduction to it, and a film of her reading it.
INTERVIEW WITH JANE CLARKE ON RTE RADIO 1’S COUNTRYWIDE
CountryWide, RTE Radio 1, Saturday 6 June 2020, 8.05am
Jane Clarke was interviewed on RTE Radio 1’s farming and rural life programme CountryWide on 6 June. She was talking to Ella McSweeney as they went for a walk together in the hills close to Jane’s home in Glenmalure. She spoke about how her memories of growing up on a farm in Roscommon were unlocked when she started to write in her forties, and about how she hopes that people will hold on to the new-found respect for the environment and nature that has emerged during lockdown.
Jane read the first poem she ever wrote – ‘Daily Bread’ from her debut collection The River - and also ‘Kelly’s Garden’, the final poem in her 2019 second collection When the Tree Falls, which names the fields of her family farm in Roscommon.
Jane grew up on a farm in Co Roscommon, but left for Dublin when she was 17. Many of her poems draw on images of the natural world and on the landscapes of Roscommon and Co Wicklow, where she has lived for the past 20 years. The feature she presented for BBC Radio 4 saw her walking the 19km Miners’ Way through the valleys and mountains of Wicklow.
Listen here.
NEW POEM ON RTE RADIO 1'S THE POETRY PROGRAMME
The Poetry Programme: Poems in a Pandemic, RTE Radio 1, Monday 1 June 2020, 1.30pm
Jane Clarke and Kerry Hardie both read new poems on this very moving special edition of The Poetry Programme broadcast on Ireland’s Bank Holiday, 1 June.
Both poems were written in April, and are included on Manchester Writing School’s WRITE where we are NOW website, which gathers together poems written in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jane Clarke’s poem ‘First Earlies’ was written in Glenmalure on 21 April 2020. It will be published in her forthcoming third collection A Change in the Air in May 2023.
https://www.mmu.ac.uk/write/first-earlies.php
‘On Bank Holiday Monday, at 1:30 pm on 1st June, Olivia O'Leary presents a selection of poems from poets responding to the Covid 19 crisis in Poems in a Pandemic: a Poetry Programme Special.’
Kerry features at 15:09 and Jane at 22:58.
Arena, RTE Radio 1, Tuesday 19 May 2020, 7-8pm
Jane Clarke was interviewed on Arena, RTE Radio 1’s week-nightly arts and popular culture show, about her second collection When the Tree Falls, which is on the three-book shortlist for the Pigott Poetry Prize 2020.
In a very moving interview, Jane spoke to Sean Rocks from her home in Glenmalure. She read and spoke about her poems ‘In Glasnevin’, ‘That I Could’ and ‘Respects’ – all from When the Tree Falls. She ended by reading a new poem – long worked on, but only just completed – ‘The Key’.
Sean Rocks asked Jane why she thought that people have been turning to poetry during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘I think it is something about the intensity and distillation of a poem. A poem is like music, it goes straight to the heart, and I think that’s what people want at the moment.’
A link to the whole programme is here.
Beautiful half-hour BBC Radio 4 feature presented by Irish poet Jane Clarke. She reads 'Birthing the Lamb' from When the Tree Falls, along with a new sequence of poems. The Miners' Way was chosen by Antonia Quirke for her Pick of the Week of 3 May on BBC Radio 4, beginning with Jane reading her poem 'Birthing the Lamb', followed by a clip from the end of the programme.
The Miners' Way is no longer available to listen to, but details are here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000htr0
ARTICLE BY JANE CLARKE IN THE IRISH TIMES
Jane Clarke wrote about the Miners' Way of Glenmalure, Glendalough and Glendasan in The Irish Times of 1 May ahead of her BBC Radio 4 feature The Miners' Way. Her article is here. It includes one of the new poems she has written especially for the programme. You can hear Jane read this poem on the Words Lightly Spoken podcast. Click here to listen.
PODCAST RECOMMENDATION FOR WHEN THE TREE FALLS
Slightly Foxed podcast episode 13, online 15 November 2019
Episode 13 of the Slightly Foxed podcast explores nature writing with Jay Armstrong, founder and editor of Elementum Journal, and author Juliet Blaxland.
‘This collection of poetry weaves around the death of her father… It’s just so simple, but hugely poignant and very strong writing.’ – Jay Armstrong, recommending When the Tree Falls on the Slightly Foxed podcast
Click here to listen. Jay recommended Jane Clarke’s second poetry collection When the Tree Falls at 34.34.
REVIEW COVERAGE
A lovely feature by Fr Kevin Hegarty on discovering the poetry of Jane Clarke ran in The Mayo News of 24 November 2021. The piece focused on her second collection When the Tree Falls, quoting in full the poems ‘Blue Cards’, ‘The Yellow Jumper’ and ‘Respects’. Read in full here.
'Jane Clarke is making a fine contribution to Irish poetry.' - Fr Kevin Hegarty, The Mayo News
[24 April 2020]
