Main content

Episode 4: The Art of Staying

Poet Mícheál McCann reconsiders his understanding of ‘home’.

In 'Another Northern Ireland', a short series of essays, some of our best writers are uncovering the untold stories, everyday idiosyncrasies, and little-known histories of the place they call home.

Poet Mícheál McCann in ‘The Art of Staying’ talks about how, for gay people like him, to leave for the big city is not just a verb but a commandment. But at a traditional rural Northern Ireland wake, a mourning rite for his uncle, he reconsiders his understanding of ‘home’ and asks if it could come to mean something different.

NOTE: Listeners should be aware that there is language used and referred to from the 1970s, and of its time, which some may find difficult and better suited to adults.

Release date:

Available now

13 minutes