Damien Molony back on the airwaves in BBC Radio 4 ‘Poetry Please’ WB Yeats Special

August 30, 2014

We reported a while back that Damien will soon appear on BBC Radio 4’s upcoming Poetry Please programme and the wait is almost over – his dulcet Irish tones will be gracing the airwaves tomorrow!

The broadcast is a special programme marking 75 years since the death of W.B Yeats and Damien will be reading some of his best loved poems. It will also include an interview with Yeats’ biographer Professor Roy Foster and archived readings from Seamus Heaney, Sinead Cusack and Steven Rea.

Poems featured are listed below.

Song of the Old Mother
By W.B Yeats
From The Collected Poems of W.B Yeats
Published by Macmillan

Song of Wandering Aengus
By W.B Yeats
Taken from the CD ‘Now and In Time to Be’ by Christy Moore
Label: Grapevine Label

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
By W. B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

The Host of the Air
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

Easter 1916
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

An Irish Airman Forsees His Death
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

The Second Coming
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

Long-Legged Fly
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

The Wild Swans at Coole
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

Extract from Under Ben Bulben
By W.B Yeats
From W.B Yeats – Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney
Published by Faber

With a wide-ranging career including theatre, television and radio, this will be Damien’s fourth appearance on BBC Radio 4, having previously performed in BBC NI radio plays Student Stories, The Hill Bachelors and The Commitments. Since 2012, Damien has also given voice to short stories and poems for WordTheatre, including the award nominated poems War Reporter by Dan O’Brien and The Coal Jetty by Sinéad Morrissey at The 2013 Forward Prizes for Poetry.

Poetry Please is presented by performance poet, broadcaster and playwright Roger McGough and is the longest running poetry related radio programme in the world. We are delighted that Damien is part of such a prestigious, well loved show and cannot wait to hear him read the works of one of the greatest Irish poets of all time.

Listen to Damien reading Yeats poetry on Poetry Please Sunday 31 August 4.30pm on BBC Radio 4. The programme is repeated Saturday 6 Sep 11.30pm.

Tune in live and after the show on catch-up here.

To comment on Damien on Poetry Please and discuss with other fans, click here!