Seamus Justin Heaney (1939–2013) was an Irish poet. This 1995 Nobel laureate has been widely acclaimed as a major poet of the twentieth century.
Born in County Derry in Northern Ireland, Heaney took Irish citizenship in 1972. In the 1960s, he began publishing poems in magazines—he wrote about pastures of his youth and recollections of everyday objects such as potatoes and bullfrogs. He received a letter from the editor of Faber & Faber, who had previously published some well-known works of literature including those of T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, and Robert Lowell, asking if he’d like to publish his volume of poems. That first collection, Death of a Naturalist (1966,) made his name as a poet.
What distinguished Heaney’s poetry was its creativity—Heaney transformed the personal, local, and, at times, the unimaginable present into timeless and universal art. His other notable works include North (1975,) The Haw Lantern (1987,) The Spirit Level (1996,) Electric Light (2001,) and District and Circle (2006.)
Heaney also published the highly acclaimed translation of the Old English epic poem Beowulf (1999.) Heaney’s adaptation was inspired by the Derry dialect of his youth; it reconfirmed his position in the pantheon of Irish poets.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Seamus Heaney
Behaviour that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere.
—Seamus Heaney
Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what’s said and what’s done.
—Seamus Heaney
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
William Butler Yeats Irish Poet
Harold Pinter British Playwright
Muriel Spark Scottish Novelist, Poet
George Bernard Shaw Irish Playwright
Octavio Paz Mexican Poet, Diplomat
Clive James Australian Writer, Broadcaster, TV Critic
Norman Mailer American Novelist, Journalist
Brendan Behan Irish Poet
Doris Lessing British Novelist, Poet
V. S. Naipaul Trinidadian-British Writer