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Paul Durcan has won numerous prestigious prizes and awards, and is Ireland's Professor of Poetry. His first book appeared in 1967, and has been followed by 17 others. His most recent collection, The Art of Life was published on his 60th birthday. Taking us from County Mayo to Dublin, to hold in his arms his newborn granddaughter, and thence to Tuscany, Poland and Japan, he reflects upon parental pride, the aches and pains of old age, the trim bottoms of snooker players, the wisdom of ex-wives and dogs on Sandymount Strand, while introducing us to a host of colourful characters, including a bishop, a roofer, a milkman, a priest and an unmarried mother. This is an opportunity to be challenged, amused and delighted, by hearing one of Ireland's most successful and popular poets at the height of his powers.