On Monday, September 14th, I attended my third Muldoon's Picnic at the Irish Arts Center which unfortunately fell on the first night of Rosh Hashana. Attendance was down as a result. Who would have thunk it? It appears there are a lot more Irish Jews in New York than I had previously thought. My own children share both heritages but I have always felt they were fairly unique in that. Is there a common bond because both cultures are carriers of the Tay-Sachs disease? But I digress.
On the menu this past Monday were the Australian novelist Peter Carey, poet Maureen N. McClane, Bill Payne of Little Feat, Muldoon's new band Rogue Oliphant (In the past he performed with the band Wayside Shrines and I believe that some of the members are the same) and, of course, the man himself, Paul Muldoon, who never ceases to entertain and astound with his spoken word poems.
Muldoon started the evening off backed by Rogue Oliphant with the rollicking and somewhat bawdy "Mrs. Oliphant" Although the real Mrs. Oliphant was the Scottish Margaret Oliphant, a late 19th century writer of domestic realism and tales of the supernatural, Muldoon's Mrs. Oliphant is presumably his own wife.
Maureen N. McClane read selections from her recent book of poems "This Blue." My favorite line of her poetry from "This Blue": The effort your life / requires exhausts me. / I am not kidding.”
She has also the author of a book and essays about troubadour history and so ended the first half of her program singing the troubadour ballad "Barbara Allen" accompanied on guitar by herself.
Peter Carey read from his novel "The True History of the Kelly Gang" which the Guardian just named in its definitive "100 best novels written in English." Carey is an engaging reader but I would have preferred him to have read something new.
Less interesting, for me at least, was the musician Bill Payne who chatted us up a bit with information about Waco, Texas from whence he hails, sang the song "Dust and Bones" written with his son Evan and recited one of his own poems.
I wasn't able to stay for the second half of the program and am sure I missed out on many more pleasures but I am looking forward to the next next Picnic which is coming up on October 12th and will feature novelist Colum McCann, poet Michael Dickman, fiddler Dan Trueman and others. For more information go to http://www.irishartscenter.org
