Pádraig Ó Tuama is an Irish poet, theologian and conflict mediator.

Early life and education

Ó Tuama was brought up in a Catholic family in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland. His first language is English. He also speaks Irish. Ó Tuama received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

from the Maryvale Institute of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England; a

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, and a PhD from the School of Critical Studies (Creative Writing and Theology) at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Career

Ó Tuama has written five collections of poetry and a book of spiritual reflection, and is the editor of two poetry anthologies. His poetry has been featured in Harvard Review,

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

’s ''Poem of the Week'', Poetry Ireland,

New England Review The ''New England Review'' is an American quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, ...

The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ''T ...

and the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

' ''Poem-A-Day.'' He has held numerous poetry residencies, most recently with The Church of the Heavenly Rest in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. He was profiled in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' in December 2022. Ó Tuama is a staff poet with the On Being Project, and hosts ''Poetry Unbound,'' a podcast produced by On Being Studios. ''Poetry Unbound'' had been downloaded more than 10 million times by the end of 2022. Ó Tuama's book ''Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open your World'', an anthology based on the podcast of the same name, was published by Canongate and W.W. Norton in 2022. The Poetry of War and Peace

Ó Tuama has featured on Thought for the Day on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

and

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...

. He has presented Something Understood on BBC Radio 4, and An Saol Ó Dheas on RTÉ. In 2021, he hosted the first season of The Corrymeela Podcast, and an episode of On Being with Krista Tippett. His interviewees have included Hanif Abdurraqib,

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is a British-Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist o ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...

, Martin Hayes, Billy Collins and Joy Harjo. In 2011, along with Paul Doran, Ó Tuama co-founded Tenx9, a storytelling initiative based in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Tenx9 events have since been held in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. From 2014 to 2019, Ó Tuama was the leader of the Corrymeela Community, Ireland's oldest peace and reconciliation organisation. He has also collaborated with and worked for a number of other mediation organisations, including Co-operation Ireland, Mediation Northern Ireland, and Place for Hope. He is a frequent speaker at Greenbelt Festival.

Personal life

Ó Tuama is gay, and has been a vocal supporter of the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. He has been outspoken against the practice of ‘reparative’ or ‘

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

’.

Published works

* ''44 Poems on Being with Each Other'' (Canongate and W.W. Norton, 2025) * ''Kitchen Hymns'' (Copper Canyon Press and Cheerio, 2025) * ''Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love'' (William B. Eerdmans, 2024) * ''Feed the Beast'' (Broken Sleep Books, 2022) * ''Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World'' (Canongate and W. W. Norton, 2022) * ''In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World'' (North America edition, with foreword by Krista Tippett, Broadleaf Books, 2021) * ''Borders and Belonging. The Book of Ruth: A Story for Our Times'' (Co-authored with Glenn Jordan, Canterbury Press, 2021) * 15 sonnets in ''When Did We See You Naked'' (Reaves and Tombs ds SCM Press, 2021) * Four poems in ''Mapping Faith: Theologies of Migration and Community'' (Lia Shimada d Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020) * 'The Place Between' in ''Neither Here nor There: The Many Voices of Liminality'' (Timothy Carson d The Lutterworth Press, 2019) * ''Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community'' (Canterbury Press, 2017) * ''In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 2015) * ''Sorry for Your Troubles'' (Canterbury Press, 2013) * ''Readings from the Books of Exile'' (Canterbury Press, 2012) * References

External links

*Ó Tuama'
official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:OTuama, Padraig 21st-century Irish poets Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Poetry anthologies Columbia University people Irish theologians