Poet and musician Paul Muldoon and his band, Rogue Oliphant, will be joined by singer Glen Hansard, novelist Anna Burns and poet Padraig Regan for Muldoon’s Picnic at the city’s Town Hall Theatre on Monday, May 13, at 8pm.

It’s the opening show of a four-date tour from the renowned Armagh-born poet and friends. Based in New York, where he teaches at Princeton and is a former poetry editor with the New Yorker, Paul Muldoon embarked on these sessions 10 years ago at the city’s Irish Arts Center.

The show’s name comes from a popular 1880s’ New York vaudeville act that was based around Irish-American strongman William Muldoon.

It inspired the Pulitzer-winning poet – who has been  described by the Times Literary Supplement as ‘the most significant English-language poet born since the Second World War’ – to begin hosting evenings of poetry, prose and music in his adopted city in 2014.

“It’s one of our most basic instincts; to listen to a song, listen to a poem,” he says of his reasons for setting up Muldoon’s Picnic. “Even in this era when people have their noses stuck in their tablets, it still works.”

His house band, Rogue Oliphant, is a collective of musicians and composers including Chris Harford (Three Colors, Band of Changes), Cáit O’Riordan (The Pogues), David Mansfield (Bob Dylan, The Alpha Band), Ray Kubian (Electric Six, Chris Forsyth) and Warren Zanes (Del Fuegos).

Different guests from the worlds of music and literature take part in each show.

For the Town Hall cabaret on May 13, Paul Muldoon and Rogue Oliphant will be joined by Booker Prize-winning novelist Anna Burns (Milkman), poet Padraig Regan (whose debut collection Some Integrity was nominated for the 2022 Forward Prize), and Oscar winning musician Glen Hansard (Falling Slowly from Once).

This is the third time Muldoon’s Picnic has toured Ireland – the show played here in 2017, 2019 and 2022 and, once again, this event is being presented by Poetry Ireland. Tickets, at €25 plus booking fee, are on sale at tht.ie, or phone 091-569777.

Pictured: Poet Paul Muldoon.