The Letters of Seamus Heaney

Author: Seamus Heaney

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'A marvellous book, lovingly edited, beautifully produced. . . and brimming with literary insights, much laughter, a sprinkle of gossip and the poet's insuppressible joie de vivre, even in adversity. Buy it, read it, and keep it to hand on to your children.' John Banville, Guardian

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A marvellous book, lovingly edited, beautifully produced. . . and brimming with literary insights, much laughter, a sprinkle of gossip and the poet's insuppressible joie de vivre, even in adversity. Buy it, read it, and keep it to hand on to your children.' John Banville, Guardian

Every now and again I need to get down here, to get into the Diogenes tub, as it were, or the Colmcille beehive hut, or the Mossbawn scullery. At any rate, a hedge surrounds me, the blackbird calls, the soul settles for an hour or two . . .

In this wonderful selection, spanning fifty years of Seamus Heaney's correspondence, we are given access as never before to the life and poetic development of a literary titan - from his early days in Belfast, through his controversial decision to settle in the Republic, to the gradual broadening of horizons that culminated in the award of a Nobel Prize and the years of international acclaim that kept him heroically busy until his death.

Editor Christopher Reid draws from both public and private archives to reveal this story in the poet's own words. Listening to his voice, we find ourselves in the same room as a man whose presence enriched the world immeasurably, and whose legacy continues to deepen our sense of what truly matters.

'An epistolary cornucopia. . . contains an abundance of insight and illumination, literary gossip and appraisal, playfulness and cogency, all bound up with a steadfast attention to the feelings and expectations of each correspondent.' Patricia Craig, TImes Literary Supplement, Books of the Year

'. . . communicates marvellously the encompassing personality and intelligence of this fine poet.' Seamus Perry, Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year

'. . . a comprehensive collection of letters which reveal a great poet at work, but also charts in engrossing detail the times he lived in.' Paul Perry, Irish Independent

About the Author

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland. Death of a Naturalist, his first collection of poems, appeared in 1966, and was followed by books of poetry, criticism and translation which established him as the leading poet of his generation. In 1995 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Christopher Reid is the author of many books of poems, including A Scattering (winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award 2009), The Song of Lunch, and, most recently, Toys / Tricks / Traps (2023). He was editor of the Letters of Ted Hughes (2007).