Muldoon's Picnic, an Irish tour of poetry, prose and music hosted by Paul Muldoon, kicks off next week

After a successful Irish tour in 2017, as well as 10 sold-out seasons at New York's Irish Arts Center, Muldoon's Picnic, a cabaret-style evening of poetry, prose and music, is back.

Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, each show on the tour is set to feature a bespoke mix of artists from the worlds of music and literature, including the likes of Michael Longley, Zadie Smith, Lisa O’Neill, and Horslips.

Muldoon presents the show alongside the house band Rogue Oliphant, a collective of musicians and composers including Chris Harford (Three Colors, Band of Changes), Cait O’Riordan (The Pogues), David Mansfield (Bob Dylan, The Alpha Band) and Ray Kubian (Electric Six, Chris Forsyth).

The title of the evening, Muldoon's Picnic, refers to a popular 19th century New York vaudeville act, which inspired the New York-based Muldoon to begin hosting these blended evenings of literature and music back in 2014.

“It’s one of our most basic instincts; to listen to a song, listen to a poem," Muldoon says in a statement about the tour. "Even in this era when people have their noses stuck in their tablets, it still works.”

See the full dates and line-ups for Muldoon's Picnic, produced by Poetry Ireland, below:

Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo
Friday 2nd August
With Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Wendy Erskine, Len Graham and Duke Special

Gate Theatre, Dublin
Sunday 4th August
With Michael Longley, Anne Enright, Martin Hayes, Glen Hansard and Lisa Lambe

The Everyman Theatre, Cork
Monday 5th August
With Nick Laird, Zadie Smith and Horslips

Glór, Ennis, Co. Clare
Wednesday 7th August
With Declan O’Rourke, John Sheahan, Felicia Olusanya and Fintan O'Toole

The Dock, Carrick-On-Shannon, Co. Leitrim
Friday 9th August
With Stephen Sexton, Lisa O'Neill, Sinéad Gleeson

The MAC, Belfast
Sunday 11th August
With Moya Brennan and Cormac DeBarra, John Banville, Leanne O’Sullivan

Tickets can be booked through the individual venues.