Irish Poet Pádraig Ó Tuama Offers Lessons in Language for Poetry, Prayer, and Peace

The Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama presented poetry as at turns intimate, mystical, and political during a poetry reading and public conversation at Duke Chapel on Tuesday, November 19.

“I loved poetry from an early age and felt surrounded by it,” Ó Tuama told an audience that filled the pews of the Chapel. “Loads of the Irish-language poets we learned [in school] had written poems about Irish independence, and it had never occurred to me that poetry wasn't political, or that the arts somehow were removed from everyday life, or that it was only people who had luxury could write poems.”

Poet Pádraig Ó Tuama and Chapel Dean Luke Powery in conversation before an audience that filled the pews of Duke Chapel.

At the event titled “Poetry, Prayer, and Public Healing,” Ó Tuama read and discussed some of his poems with themes of religion, violence, and sexuality, including “The Butcher of Eden,” “The Exorcist,” and five poems with the title “Do You Believe in God?”

“My own faith journey, I grew up a Catholic, and I tried very, very hard for a very long time to be very devout, and that caused all kinds of complications,” he said. “Before I was more public about being gay, I often heard people discussing what they thought of gay people, and it's interesting to listen to what people say when they don't think there's anybody around to hear.”

“I stay with the questions of religion because I like the uncomfortable accountabilities that religion dreams for itself,” he said. “The dream of God, the dream of restitution, the dream of resurrection, the dream of a source and a direction for our prayer—these are really good dreams to keep.”

The author of eight books that range from memoir to poetry to devotional guide, Ó Tuama has gained notice especially through his podcast Poetry Unbound, which has been downloaded more than ten million times. He was at Duke for the Chapel’s 2024 William Preston Few Lecture, a series that takes its name from Duke’s first president, who articulated a vision of education promoting the courage to seek the truth and the conviction to live it.

In introducing Ó Tuama, Duke Chapel Dean Luke Powery said: “In this towering building that is a symbol of faith and a place for significant communal gatherings at the heart of this campus, you may notice that words echoed off the walls. There's a kind of resonance to language in this place, which makes it especially fitting for our guest this evening, who is a gifted craftsman and architect of language.”

In responding to a question from Dean Powery about what wisdom Irish people have gained from their peacemaking efforts in the 1990s, Ó Tuama said, “I'm a foreigner here, I would not disrespect people from here by thinking I have anything to give as a template, but what I can say is worthwhile trying is reading peace agreements from other parts of the world because they show what language can do.”

“When it comes to the small peace treaties that we have with our friends, with our neighbors, our family members, in our communities, and our places of work—the ways in which we look to address the past, tell the truth about the violence, and find some way to still stay together in the after of that—that is an act of communal making,” he said. “It is an act of art.”

Ó Tuama concluded the conversation by reading his poem “How to Belong Be Alone,” which he introduced as “my prayer to my own death.” It began: “It all begins with knowing nothing lasts forever / So you might as well start packing now / In the meantime, practice being alive.”

Following an extended applause, dozens of people lined up to have their books signed by Ó Tuama. 

One person waiting in line, Cindy Williams, a devoted listener of Ó Tuama’s podcast, had driven from South Carolina to attend the event. “I write poetry, and that's been its own joy,” Williams said. “I am usually resentful when people talk about poetry because I feel it's condescending—like, let me decide what this is saying—but he totally changed my idea that I; he does it in such a generous and not condescending way.”

Duke senior Peggy Moore, who has studied abroad in Ireland, said she was listening for what he would say about the politics of that country. “I thought the fact that he said unification is in the next decade of Ireland's future was really interesting,” Moore said. “I like listening to his poetry, like his ‘Northern of Ireland.’”

Chelsea Krieg teaches creative writing at North Carolina State University. “It's always nice to be reminded that things that are often considered softer—like poetry and prayer, these introspective things—are incredibly valuable to creating peace,” Krieg said. “I spoke with someone afterwards who was saying how this was just so necessary and in such a beautiful space.”

The day before the public event, Ó Tuama led a workshop on campus for about thirty students. In it, he invited participants to recall the first line of a poem or novel and then practice writing the first line of the story of their life. 

One of the workshop participants, junior Havish Shirumalla, said, “I was really blown away by what other people shared…. I had not really thought much about the first words, the first sentences [of my life story], but there's far more to it … that I didn't know, I knew.”

Hannah Anderson, a hybrid master of divinity student pursuing a certificate in art and theology, also attended the workshop. “On a craft level, Pádraig gave us a lot to think about, about beginnings and how language is coded,” she said. “On a personal level, I'm seeing a representation of the kind of work I want to do in my future.”

First-year student Sarah Campbell Brown said, “I showed up to this not for a class but just out of my own curiosity and not really knowing who the speaker was. It's definitely been really fascinating to get in my head, and get in the headspace of others, and ponder the concept of origin as a whole.”