Brendan O'Connor Rita Ann Higgins: “The witch in me wanted to scramble his eggs”
Mar 29, 2026
Rita Ann Higgins, an Irish poet and writer known for frank, working-class and women's voices, reads from her new 'greatest hits' and reflects on beginnings. She talks about leaving school for factory work, finding poetry after illness and motherhood, using humour and overheard speech, erotic poems in conservative Ireland, grandchildren's lessons, aging with gusto, and a dark comedy TV project.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Poetry As Condensed Working Class Vignettes
- Rita Ann uses vernacular and overheard dialogue to root poems in working-class life, creating vivid, condensed vignettes.
- She prefers poetry because it allowed her to convey whole lives in short panels rather than long prose.
Tommy's Wife Condenses A Life In Few Lines
- Rita Ann reads Tommy's Wife, a compressed life story that moves from singing in pubs to bitterness after marriage and motherhood.
- The poem illustrates her skill at condensing decades of experience into spare, sharp lines.
Heaney's Generosity To Emerging Poets
- Rita Ann found the wider poetry community welcoming, highlighting Seamus Heaney's graciousness and his habit of engaging warmly with other writers.
- Heaney made writers feel known and at ease, which she remembers as extraordinary generosity.
