If you were born before 1995, you'd have felt the loss of James Earl Jones.

The father of our childhood and the king of the monologue left our world for the next on the day of recording, so we wanted to share his voice on the show. He does a belter of a rendition of a Christina Rossetti poem that we hope you enjoy.

Ryan's been losing his mind over reading Frankenstein for the first time, so we delve into the world of novels that we think we know the story of, but not quite. We also share a Shelley poem, lovely.

Shelley and Lord Byron would have been rubbing shoulders back then, and when Byron wasn't dipping his wick into anything that moves, he did write a poem now and again. We share one on the show.

Polina Cosgrave then gives us a solid reminder of what to watch out for when picking a potential lover with her poem 'Don't Make Love To Them If They Don't Dance'

We wrap up the show with one of our favourite listener poems with the words of Nicola Clare. You're gonna love this one.

As always, thanks again to everyone who listens and share the show with their pals. If you do share the show, let us know asap so we can gush over you.

Poems from the show:

A Birthday - Christina Rosetti
https://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/poems/a_birthday.shtml

Mary Shelley - Oh Listen While I Sing To Thee
https://www.best-poems.net/mary-shelley/oh-listen-while-i-sing-to-thee.html

Lord Byron - So, We'll Go No More a-Roving
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43845/so-well-go-no-more-a-roving

Polina Cosgrave - Don't Make Love To Them If They Don't Dance
https://gallerypress.com/authors-published-b-the-gallery-press/a-to-f-gallery-authors/polina-cosgrave/

Nicola Clare - Psychiatry Gave Me PTSD

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Original music by Matthew Keating
Artwork by Paddy Downey
Introduction and co-produced by Lisa Downey

We know. We agree. Last week was an absolute sausage fest.

Too many misters and not enough sisters if you ask us, which is why today's episode we are celebrating the powerful women of the Electric Picnic who had blown us away with their poetry over the festival.

We both felt very 'seen' when Tess McKevitt performed her poem all about the red flags and pitfalls of falling for a 'Mammies Boy', so we had to start there and discuss the poem.

Lizzy Byrne had the audience eating out of her hands on stage at the festival, but it was her piece 'The Festival Of Life' that brought us on a beautiful journey and we couldn't wait to share with you

Caoimhe Weakliam packs a punch anyway when she performs, but her spoken word poem 'Storm' will, and excuse the pun, blow you away. Brace for impact.

Anna D has magic in her veins anyway, but how fitting for her to give us the piece 'Droaicht' to share with you, which as you know already, is Gaelic for magic.

We wrap up the show with a tribute to Ryan's grandmother through the wonderful words of Wendy Cope and her poem, Names.

A warm welcome to our new Patreon subscribers Barbara and Muiris who have joined the family. Please feel free to support the show if this brings a little joy on a Monday morning for you.

Poems from today

Tess McKevitt - Fear And Lusting
https://www.tessmckevitt.com/

Lizzy Byrne - The Festival Of Love
Instagram - @lizzybyrneandthelymphnodes

Caoimhe Weakliam - Storm
Instagram - @caoimheweakliam

Anna D - Draoicht
Instagram - @annad.poetry

Wendy Cope - Names
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wendy-cope

Support the show

Original music by Matthew Keating
Artwork by Paddy Downey
Introduction and co-produced by Lisa Downey

We survived Electric Picnic. Just.

As we were doing our best to thrive over the weekend at Ireland's biggest music festival, we also grabbed a few poetry peeps to lend us their ears for a whopper episode of The Poetry's Dead Podcast!

Jan Brierton hadn't met Stephen James Smith before their in-conversation chat at the Manifest stage, so we did the honours and hosted their first meet! We talk about life on the road, fame and making sure you keep your circle close.

David Hynes, the brains behind The Word stage at EP where we both got to perform, dragged himself away from hosting duties to join us for a chat with UK poet Polar Bear and Unorthodox Coolock himself, Craig Doyle for a conversation that celebrated the importance of art in the world of the working class.

James 'Jimbo' Dillon and Daragh Fleming then join us to discuss the scene in Dublin and Cork respectively as well as share how poetry is a solid antidote to mental health struggles.

We end the show with a show-stopping interview with The Scauldy Ones. The Poet Geoff, Emmet O'Brien and Heavy Kevvy are three of the countries best performers, and after we were treated to a banging ensemble performance from the lads, they joined us to discuss how creating poetry works, crafting the perfect set and the relationship between the performer and the audience.

With so many new faces to the show making an appearance or receiving a name drop, next week we'll do a showcase show sharing the stories and poetry of the newcomers to the The Poetry's Dead Podcast.

Thanks again for all your support, and we hope you enjoy our window into the more arty side of Stradbally Farm.

Ryan and Leon

Support the show

Original music by Matthew Keating
Artwork by Paddy Downey
Introduction and co-produced by Lisa Downey