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Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World
- GenresPoetry
384 pages, Paperback
Published February 29, 2024
14 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Pádraig Ó Tuama
27 books441 followersPádraig Ó Tuama’s poetry and prose centre around themes of language, power, conflict and religion. His work has won acclaim in circles of poetry, politics, psychotherapy and conflict analysis. His formal qualifications (PhD, MTh and BA) cover creative writing, literary criticism and theology. Alongside this, he pursued vocational training in conflict analysis, specialising in groupwork.
His published work is in the fields of poetry, anthology, essay, memoir, theology and conflict. A new volume of poetry — Kitchen Hymns — is forthcoming from CHEERIO in mid 2024.
Profiled in The New Yorker, Pádraig’s poems have been featured in Poetry Ireland Review, Academy of American Poets, Harvard Review, New England Review, Raidió Teilifís Éireann’s Poem of the Week, and the Kenyon Review.
Pádraig has told stories at The Moth, has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, has presented programmes on poetry and language for BBC Radio 4; and has extended interviews with On Being, with Kim Hill on Radio NZ, and Soul Search on Radio National (Australia). In addition, he has interviewed poets and public figures including former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Hanif Abdurraqib, The Edge, Sarah Perry, Joy Harjo, Billy Collins and Martin Hayes.
His published work is in the fields of poetry, anthology, essay, memoir, theology and conflict. A new volume of poetry — Kitchen Hymns — is forthcoming from CHEERIO in mid 2024.
Profiled in The New Yorker, Pádraig’s poems have been featured in Poetry Ireland Review, Academy of American Poets, Harvard Review, New England Review, Raidió Teilifís Éireann’s Poem of the Week, and the Kenyon Review.
Pádraig has told stories at The Moth, has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, has presented programmes on poetry and language for BBC Radio 4; and has extended interviews with On Being, with Kim Hill on Radio NZ, and Soul Search on Radio National (Australia). In addition, he has interviewed poets and public figures including former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Hanif Abdurraqib, The Edge, Sarah Perry, Joy Harjo, Billy Collins and Martin Hayes.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 18, 2025
Loved this book - loved O Tuama's annotations, the poems he selected, the thinking he untangled within each poem, the titbits about his life, his experiences. Wonderful.
Some quotes:
From O Tuama:
'A poem is often made up of stanzas, and stanza is the Italian word for room.'
'Her poems opened up space.'
From A Blessing by James Wright: ''Suddenly I realize that if I stepped out of my body I would break into blossom.''
Some quotes:
From O Tuama:
'A poem is often made up of stanzas, and stanza is the Italian word for room.'
'Her poems opened up space.'
From A Blessing by James Wright: ''Suddenly I realize that if I stepped out of my body I would break into blossom.''
December 26, 2025
I haven't read a poetry book in a long while, but I found Poetry Unbound while exploring my Libby App.
I thought this will be just a compilation of poems--a straightforward listicle of sort. At first, I was a little bummed that it contained essays, but in hindsight, I am grateful for Pádraig Ó Tuama's insights, interpretations, and commentaries.
Since graduating college and losing my close ties with literature and people in the local lit scene, I feel like I've lost my attachment to poetry. Poems have become intimidating. Reading one easily confuses me. Either I feel that I've become dumb, or I just assume that poems these days aren't the same as before--a difference in sensibility, I blame.
Having Ó Tuama's essays helped and guided me in how to appreciate each poem. From deciphering form, supplementing context and history, and--at times, even their insights are poetry themselves--articulating out the sublime in their own perspective. Each essay is a conversation, a dialogue with me, the reader. It makes the poems approachable; it readies my mind to be open to new ideas and new perspectives.
From all the poets featured in this curation, I only know a couple of them. That's how narrow my exposure is, and truly, the book's collection offers a colorful variety, depth, and intensity that they make me feel like I widened my world even just through pages and pages of poetry.
I thought this will be just a compilation of poems--a straightforward listicle of sort. At first, I was a little bummed that it contained essays, but in hindsight, I am grateful for Pádraig Ó Tuama's insights, interpretations, and commentaries.
Since graduating college and losing my close ties with literature and people in the local lit scene, I feel like I've lost my attachment to poetry. Poems have become intimidating. Reading one easily confuses me. Either I feel that I've become dumb, or I just assume that poems these days aren't the same as before--a difference in sensibility, I blame.
Having Ó Tuama's essays helped and guided me in how to appreciate each poem. From deciphering form, supplementing context and history, and--at times, even their insights are poetry themselves--articulating out the sublime in their own perspective. Each essay is a conversation, a dialogue with me, the reader. It makes the poems approachable; it readies my mind to be open to new ideas and new perspectives.
From all the poets featured in this curation, I only know a couple of them. That's how narrow my exposure is, and truly, the book's collection offers a colorful variety, depth, and intensity that they make me feel like I widened my world even just through pages and pages of poetry.
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June 11, 2025I adore this book.
Each "study" includes a thoughtful, personal preamble from Padraig, then the poem, followed by a three-to-four page exploration of it that often includes historical or poetical context. Reading this every morning was a sheer delight. I had to contain myself from leaping ahead.
The book, which is derived from the "On being project" and his poetry podcast "Poetry Unbound", is a testament to noticing, to being more attentive to being human.
In addition to learning more about reading poetry, I was introduced to new poets whose work I will now seek: Christian Wiman, Hanif Abdurraqib, Brad Aaron Modlin among them.
Beautifully done and highly recommended.
Each "study" includes a thoughtful, personal preamble from Padraig, then the poem, followed by a three-to-four page exploration of it that often includes historical or poetical context. Reading this every morning was a sheer delight. I had to contain myself from leaping ahead.
The book, which is derived from the "On being project" and his poetry podcast "Poetry Unbound", is a testament to noticing, to being more attentive to being human.
In addition to learning more about reading poetry, I was introduced to new poets whose work I will now seek: Christian Wiman, Hanif Abdurraqib, Brad Aaron Modlin among them.
Beautifully done and highly recommended.
March 26, 2025
Me encantoooò
June 22, 2025
Nice collection of poems. Some of the notes were interesting, although I did end up skipping through them.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews