Patrick O'Sullivan

Patrick O'Sullivan was born in Ireland. He lived the first part of his childhood in Doneraile, County Cork, the second part in inner city Liverpool. From there the wonderful English education system sent him to university, at Oxford, Kent and Bradford. He had a career in social work and in the probation service, specialising in work with drug misuse, and in family breakdown.

In recent decades he has concentrated on the study of the Irish Diaspora, creating a series of books and organising support networks for Irish Diaspora scholars throughout the world. Alongside that formal work he has been involved in music and in theatre, and has taught courses on theatre and literature.

And all the time, inside his head, there were voices making songs.

He lives in Bradford, Yorkshire, with his wife, Alison, and two sons, Dan and Jake.

40 song lyrics by Patrick O'Sullivan, selected from the long back catalogue. New songs that measure themselves against tradition, folk, chanson, stage song and the crafted form of the literary lyric. A book for musicians looking for worthwhile words, performers looking for a new text - he writes good songs for women singers. A book for lovers of real verse and real feeling, who respect traditional skills and lyric forms.