13: The latest Ferrante; Mary O’Donnell; the poem that wouldn’t go away

Send us Fan MailToday we look at one of the most famous poems of the twentieth century as we consider Ian Sansom’s brilliantly entertaining book about the poem and the poet, September 1, 1939: W.H. Auden and the Afterlife of a Poem . We’ll also be looking at the latest novel by Elena Ferrante, The Lying Life of Adults. This week’s Toaster Challenge guest is Mary O’Donnell, whose poetry collection Massacre of the Birds has just been published by Salmon Books. The Toaster Challenge choice  is On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean VuongIntro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it.Artwork by Freya SirrTo subscribe to Books for Breakfast go to your podcast provider of choice (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google etc) and search for the podcast then hit subscribe or follow, or simply click the appropriate button above. If you want to be alerted when a new episode is released follow the instructions here for iPhone or iPad. For Spotify notifications follow the instructions here.Support the show