My Life in Books: ‘I've yet to see a film that does justice to the book’
Cork poet Theo Dorgan at Cork City Library. Picture: David Keane
Theo Dorgan is a poet, novelist, translator, screenwriter and broadcaster. He was born in Cork and attended the North Monastery, later studying English and teaching at UCC.
He served as literature officer with Triskel Arts Centre, co-director of the Cork Film Festival, director of Poetry Ireland and is also a member of Aosdána.
His most recent poetry collection is , which was chosen as Cork’s One City One Book in 2024.
His work has been published in Spanish, Italian, Greek and French, while among his own translations are three collections from the French of Syrian poet Maram al Masri and a version in Irish of Lorca’s Romancero Gitano.
His latest novel , published by Mercier Press, has been longlisted for the prestigious Dublin Literary Award, worth €100,000.
There are quite a lot, now that I look. Dean Browne's excellent first collection of poetry, ; Mary O'Donnell's short story collection, ; Paul Muldoon’s Ireland Professor of Poetry lectures, ; Colm Tóibín’s essay collection, . There are more, but that's enough to be going on with.
Anything by PG Wodehouse. It's the combination of good prose and nonsense stories.
by Hermann Hesse. For some strange reason, no matter how I try, I can't get past page 29. It must be time to try again.
Seamus Murphy's Stone Mad, recently re-issued by Mercier Press. The best book ever set in Cork.
Two books had a profound impact on me as a young man; by the American author Shulamith Firestone which taught me that feminism is inextricably woven into the broader spectrum of social and political justice issues; and Doris Lessing’s visionary which shook me in a very good way, and changed how I see the world.
. It taught me to ignore discouragement, that books will always find their readers if written from necessity. Just write the book, it will eventually find its way out into the world.
A reliable history of British Intelligence operations in Ireland from 1918 to the present day.
I have yet to see a film that does justice to the book it is based on.
My favourite bookshop, by a mile, is Books Upstairs in Dublin.
I have an ongoing affection for Waterstones and Vibes & Scribes in Cork, and happy memories of the Mercier bookshop in Bridge St. I do, of course, buy books online, the best way to acquire titles that are out of print or not available in Irish shops.
The poetry is largely alphabetised, everything else is in seeming chaos — but I always know where to find a particular book.
Coffee, where possible. Tea or whiskey otherwise.
I couldn't possibly name just one, my head is crammed full of them. In a peculiar and mysterious way, though, the character of Joseph in my novel just won’t go away. In fact, he’s haunting me.
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