Wild, Wild Erie

In his first project with an American museum, leading Irish poet Paul Durcan has penned fifty poems based on works that he selected from the Toledo Museum of Art’s world-class collection during an intensive residency. The result is a surprisingly joyous journey of discovery, with unscheduled stops along the way at the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Gare du Nord, Iraq and Damascus, Dublin Bay, and the Lake Erie marshes. Durcan’s wry, wise observations, speculations, and fabrications about the works of art that are his inspiration open unexpected avenues for readers to respond both to the poems and to the art, creating new contexts and ways of seeing for a unique and illuminating literary and artistic experience.

As passionate about art as he is about writing, Durcan has previously written poetry inspired by the collections of the National Gallery of Ireland (Crazy About Women, 1991) and the National Gallery, London (Give Me Your Hand, 1994).