'I do believe in poetic realism. I do believe that we should sing even in the darkest little corners. I do believe that our ability to say things beautifully is one of the things that absolutely sets us apart. Because anyone can say the most brutal and awful things but to find some kind of redemption, to find some sort of grace is the overarching need, I think, of the human spirit in the end ... It's easy to be cynical. It's much more muscular, much tougher to find some kind of redemption or some sort of grace. I don't want to sound soft or poncy but the fact of the matter is that I think it's necessary to have some sort of optimism against all the available evidence and most of the optimists I meet are tougher than the cynics.'
Colum McCann talking with Michael Cathcart, BooksPlus, RN, Sunday 29 November 2015
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2015/11/bps_20151129_1405.mp3
http://colummccann.com/
