Paul Muldoon has gathered a motley crew for an Eclectic Picnic

Paul Muldoon has gathered a motley crew of writers and musicians for a tour of Ireland, writes Alan O’Riordan.

THE paradoxical cultural status of poetry is reflected in the ease with which poets seem to get bums on seats, but the difficulty they seem to have getting books on shelves. We want poetry in our lives, we want to experience it. And yet, we seem reluctant to spend time alone in a room with it.