Over the weekend of 27-28 April 2024, the University of Notre Dame held a commemoration of the work of Seamus Heaney in Kylemore, Co. Galway. Hosted by Professors Clíona Ni Ríordáin and Declan Kiberd, it included outstanding contributions by academics based in Ireland, Britain, America, Italy, Poland, Croatia and New Zealand. Among the extensive range … Continued
Ten years ago in September 2013, the Irish Literary Society approached me to put together a presentation to celebrate the life and work of Seamus Heaney, their then President, whose passing on 30 August 2013 was such a loss to family, friends and his many admirers. To mark the 10th anniversary of his passing, the … Continued
It was a great experience in late May being able to attend a two-day ‘live’ colloquium on Seamus Heaney’s translation of Virgil’s Aeneid Book VI, first published in 2016. Organised by Rachel Falconer, Damien Nelis and Stephen Harrison, and hosted by the University of Geneva, it was an international gathering, bringing together classicists and Heaney … Continued
On Monday, 24 February, it was a great pleasure to contribute to an evening celebrating the work of Ciaran Carson at the Bloomsbury Hotel, London. Jointly sponsored by the ILS and Queen’s University Belfast’s Seamus Heaney Centre, the event consisted of readings and reminiscences by Liam Carson, Bernard O’Donoghue, Martina Evans, Cahal Dallat, Leontia Flynn, … Continued
The Home Place, Bellaghy: Saturday 8 February, 2:00 pm From early in his career, Seamus Heaney recognised the importance of translation in extending the reach of his work. By interacting with and promoting great writing from other cultures, he energised his own and discovered new ways of addressing the complex obligations he faced as both … Continued
I am very pleased to have an essay included in a new essay collection, Seamus Heaney and the Classics, edited by Stephen Harrison, Fiona McIntosh and Helen Eastman for Oxford University Press, due out on 1 September of this year. ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Seamus Heaney’s The Burial at Thebes and the Poetry of Redress’ … Continued
‘Seamus Heaney and the Polish Connection’ focused on the role Polish poetry played in Heaney’s artistic growth, enabling him to extend the historical range and ethical depth of his work. Heaney’s initial interest in Eastern European poetry was stirred soon after Death of a Naturalist appeared, and can be partly attributed to his friendship with … Continued
During the second stage of my Visiting Scholarship at the University of Gothenburg, I had the opportunity to deliver three presentations drawn from my main research areas. The first of these was entitled ‘A Holding Field: Seamus Heaney and Translation’, which highlighted the poet’s early recognition of the importance of translation in extending the reach … Continued
As part of the campaign accompanying the launch of Andrzej Franaszek’s Miłosz: A Biography translated by Aleksandra and Michael Parker for Harvard University Press, this piece was submitted to a Chicago Bookstore site. It offers a reading of Czeslaw Milosz’s most remarkable, enduring sequences, ‘The World: A Naïve Poem’, which was written in 1943, when … Continued