Larry Kirwan is Back and Rockin’ The Bronx
Join us as Larry Kirwan spins us back to the vibrant, violent New York City of the 1980s and the lives of the mostly undocumented Irish who called a patch of turf there home, in his novel Rockin’ The Bronx.
Best known as the frontman for the legendary Irish-inflected rock & roll band Black 47, Larry delves into themes of immigration, Irish and Hispanic cultural intersections, the shifting fortunes of the navvies and the nannies, the unnamed scourge of AIDS, Reagan-era politics, and his creative process in writing plays, novels, and music.
“I could tell you how to write a novel, and how to write a play, basically in five minutes each,” he says. “With songwriting, I still don't understand it. It's that moment when the hammer hits the anvil, and sparks fly.”
Now the Wexford native is combining his songwriter and playwright skills in a new musical on labor organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.
And stick around for Martin’s reading of a Rockin’ The Bronx passage reminiscent of the closing section of James Joyce’s “The Dead.”
Links
Book Orders:
- Fordham University Press: Rockin’ The Bronx
Larry Kirwan
Episode Details: Season 7, Episode 9; Total Episode Count: 112
00:00 - Introduction
02:31 - Bainbridge Now
06:41 - Reissuing Rockin' The Bronx
12:11 - How Much Autobiography in the Book?
13:45 - Racial Tension
15:46 - Irish Migrant Struggles in the 80s
19:49 - Odd Family Formations
22:45 - The Reagan Era in NYC
26:53 - Writing Music vs. Prose
29:47 - Writing About Music
33:15 - Reading RTB: The Band Sparks
38:22 - Writing Style and the Future
44:38 - Book Details and Readings
47:56 - John and Martin Recap and a Reading
49:58 - Credits
Author / Musician / Playwright
Larry Kirwan was born in Wexford, Ireland, and lives in New York City. He was leader of Black 47 for 25 years during which the political rock band played 2,500 gigs, released 16 albums and appeared on Leno, Letterman, O’Brien, Fallon and every major US TV show. He has written three novels including Liverpool Fantasy and Rockin' The Bronx, a memoir, Green Suede Shoes, and A History of Irish Music. His novel Rockaway Blue was recently published by Cornell U. Press and Rockin' The Bronx was been reissued by Fordham University Press in 2025.
He has written or collaborated on 19 plays and musicals including Paradise Square which began at the cell in Manhattan as Hard Times (produced by Nancy Manocherian, directed by Kira Simring). He collaborated with Thomas Keneally (Schindler’s List) on the musical Transport for which he wrote music and lyrics. It was produced at The Irish Repertory Theatre (directed by Tony Walton). His political thriller Rebel in the Soul was also produced at “The Rep.” He is currently adapting The Informer for stage. A political activist, he is an Irish Echo columnist and celebrity host of Celtic Crush on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. He was president of Irish American Writers & Artists for five years.