Seán O’Hagan Books
Seán O’Hagan is an Irish journalist and music critic who writes for The Observer and The Guardian.
Known for: Faith, Hope and Carnage
Books by Seán O’Hagan
Faith, Hope and Carnage
Faith, Hope and Carnage is a book-length conversation between musician Nick Cave and journalist Seán O’Hagan. The work explores themes of creativity, grief, faith, and the redemptive power of art, following the loss of Cave’s son. Through a series of intimate dialogues, Cave reflects on his life, music, and spiritual evolution, offering a profound meditation on resilience and meaning.
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Early Life and Artistic Formation
I often begin by returning to the landscape of my childhood: rural Australia, with its vast, punishing openness and deep silence. My father, an English teacher, introduced me to literature—Shakespeare, the Bible, Dostoevsky—and those early readings seeded a fascination with the sacred and the profan...
From Faith, Hope and Carnage
The Role of Art and Creativity
Creation, for me, arises from an encounter with the unknown. I have learned to treat songwriting as a spiritual act rather than a purely artistic one. The blank page, that terrifying void, is an invitation to surrender—not to impose control but to listen, to wait for something other to emerge. The m...
From Faith, Hope and Carnage
About Seán O’Hagan
Seán O’Hagan is an Irish journalist and music critic who writes for The Observer and The Guardian.
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Seán O’Hagan is an Irish journalist and music critic who writes for The Observer and The Guardian.
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