The multi award-winning poet Paul Muldoon has cautioned that the winning of literary prizes “doesn’t really mean anything”. The Irish Times reported that Muldoon, who has won the Pulitzer prize for poetry and the TS Eliot prize, was speaking at the Irish Times Winter Nights festival. He said: “What did James Joyce ever win? Absolutely nothing that I know of. He had people coming down hard on him including some of the state authorities. In that respect it doesn’t really mean anything.”

Muldoon spoke to Irish Times columnist and Women’s Podcast presenter Róisín Ingle. When asked about his Pulitzer prize for his book Moy Sand and Gravel, he said: “It was nice to see the book honoured that way. But too often I think too much is made of prize-winning. Without diminishing it or demeaning it at all it has to be taken with a pinch of salt. I think this is true of all public acknowledgements.”

Muldoon added: “Some of the very best poets are eight years of age. It’s an age perfect for art making. At that age we have no idea of what we’re doing and that may seem like an odd thing to say but it happens to be a major plank in my own world picture. Not knowing what you’re doing as an eight-year-old doesn’t know, it allows one to come up with the most marvellous idea.”

Background: When Sir Paul McCartney met Paul Muldoon 

Background: Discussion: What price poetry competitions? 

PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS CLOSE