When I first encountered the name of the city of Stockholm, I little thought that I would ever visit it, never mind end up being welcomed to it as a guest of the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Foundation. Seamus Heaney academycityencounter share on social
The group of writers I had grown up with in the '60s - Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, James Simmons, John Hewitt, Paul Muldoon - formed a very necessary and self-sustaining group. Seamus Heaney 60sderekform Change image and share on social
The kinds of truth that art gives us many, many times are small truths. They don't have the resonance of an encyclical from the Pope stating an eternal truth, but they partake of the quality of eternity. There is a sort of timeless delight in them. Seamus Heaney artdelightencyclical share on social
I don't think my intelligence is naturally analytic or political. Seamus Heaney analyticintelligencenaturally Change image and share on social
I credit poetry for making this space-walk possible. Seamus Heaney creditmakepoetry Change image and share on social
One doesn't want one's identity coerced. Seamus Heaney coerceidentity Change image and share on social
The completely solitary self: that's where poetry comes from, and it gets isolated by crisis, and those crises are often very intimate also. Seamus Heaney completelycrisisintimate Change image and share on social
In Northern Ireland, helicopters are not usually used to promote poetry. Seamus Heaney helicopterirelandnorthern Change image and share on social
Memory has always been fundamental for me. In fact, remembering what I had forgotten is the way most of the poems get started. Seamus Heaney factforgetfundamental Change image and share on social
