By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.
Tune in

The Shaking Bog Podcast

Current Episode

Katie Donovan June 2024

Katie Donovan June 2024

The Shaking Bog podcast is hosted by Spotify where you can access our full podcast list.

Spotify
The shaking bog podcast is produced in collaboration with:

In this episode of The Shaking Bog Podcast we celebrate a new collection of poems – May Swim – by the acclaimed poet Katie Donovan. Katie lives near White Rock Beach in Killiney and this podcast was recorded beside the sea and leads the listener on a gentle meander through her reflections, memories and observations along with readings of selected poems from the new collection.

This podcast also includes music, inspired by the sea, from the wonderful Wicklow based songwriter, composer and musician Rónán Ó Snodaigh.  

Produced by The Shaking Bog in collaboration with Coillte Nature and Mermaid Arts Centre. Written & presented by Catherine Nunes, edited by Bjorn MacGiolla, mixed by Steve McGrath, with theme music composed by Ray Harmon.

Further Information:

Katie Donovan – May Swim - By turns lyrical and sardonic, this timely collection from Katie Donovan is characteristically watery – candid and uncompromising inits refusal to inhabit the safer reaches of the shore. Themes of loss, widowhood and ageing co-exist with observations of her wild garden and its inhabitants, including a mangey fox she helps to survive. Small acts of salvage are often all that is possible, such as the permission given during the Covid-19 pandemic to go 2km from home. This allowed Donovan to swim at WhiteRock, her local beach, thus staying afloat through the fear of that brutal time and what came next – the death of her mother. In some of these poems the comforting delusion of rescue is highlighted as a flawed but human necessity. Other poems give voice to the remorse that is the haunting of a failed rescue.

Whether writing about her hybrid car, the death of whales from ingesting plastic waste, or abortion now being legal in Ireland, Donovan’s idiosyncratic range of tone and subject continues to enthral and engage the reader thirty years after her debut collection, Watermelon Man, arrived with its ‘distinguished and open language’ and ‘bold statements of identity’ (Eavan Boland).

May Swim is available from www.bloodaxebooks.com and all good book shops. Please support independent booksellers where possible.

Rónán Ó Snodaigh lives in County Wicklow and isa founding member of the celebrated traditional Irish/world music band Kíla. He is one of Ireland's best and most innovative bodhrán players and a highly original singer songwriter. The music included in this podcast is from his forthcoming album Capall Bán Fút.

Podcast Archive

Katie Donovan June 2024
June 27, 2024

Katie Donovan June 2024

In this episode of The Shaking Bog Podcast we celebrate a new collection of poems – May Swim – by the acclaimed poet Katie Donovan.
Listen now...
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, May 2024
April 27, 2024

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, May 2024

This Shaking Bog Podcast is dedicated to one of our foremost poets and perhaps the most important Irish language poet living today - Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
Listen now...
Michael Longley, December 2023
December 20, 2023

Michael Longley, December 2023

The complete recording of Michael Longley's memorable reading and conversation with Dr Margaret Kelleher.
Listen now...
Knocksink
May 15, 2023

Knocksink

The Shaking Bog Podcast is re-emerging in late springtime to explore a precious woodland that lies at the bottom of the Glencree Valley
Listen now...
Winter
December 12, 2021

Winter

A special podcast episode that looks back at The ShakingBog’s Festival last September.
Listen now...
Summer
July 2, 2021

Summer

It’s summertime at last and in celebration of the season, The Shaking Bog heads to the West of Ireland to meet some of our finest artists, all of whom draw inspiration from the landscape and nature of the region.
Listen now...
Autumn
June 25, 2021

Autumn

A gentle meander through the world where art and nature meet.
Listen now...
A Christmas Special
June 25, 2021

A Christmas Special

Join us for a short festive offering - featuring the remarkable Dara McAnulty and the Glencree Valley wren boys.
Listen now...
Winter
June 25, 2021

Winter

Guided by the mood of the season this episode of The Shaking Bog Podcast explores memory, mythology and some of the hidden recesses of the natural world.
Listen now...
Spring
June 25, 2021

Spring

This Spring episode of The Shaking Bog’s seasonal podcast draws mainly on the voices of artists who live either within, or close to the Wicklow County borders.
Listen now...
Nature writing icon copyright Ronan McDonnell

The Shaking Bog Mailing List

Keep up to date on everything to do with the Shaking Bog by subscribing.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
RTE Supporting the arts
The Arch House Enniskerry
Tico Mail Works logo
Stable logo
Summerhill house logo