The Poems of Seamus Heaney

Advance tickets for this event are now available for MLF Get Closer Members to buy. Memberships start at £25 per year - for full details of membership benefits and buying options click HERE. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday 14 August at 10am.

Don’t miss this special evening celebrating the life and work of Seamus Heaney, as five acclaimed poets gather to mark the publication of The Poems of Seamus Heaney. The definitive edition of his work, it encompasses all the poems that Seamus published in his lifetime (from Death of a Naturalist (1966) to Human Chain (2010)) alongside a number of previously unpublished poems.

Featuring readings and reflections on his work, John McAuliffe, Bernard O’Donoghue, Sinéad Morrissey, Leontia Flynn and Nick Laird together celebrate a body of work that shaped modern poetry and continues to resonate across generations.

John McAuliffe is Professor of Poetry at the University of Manchester and Associate Publisher at Carcanet Press. His recent books include National Theatre and Selected Poems (2024).

Bernard O’Donoghue, Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, is a Whitbread Prize winner and medieval scholar who has published six collections of poetry. His latest collection is The Anchorage (2025).

Leontia Flynn, Professor at the Seamus Heaney Centre, has won the Forward Prize, the Rooney Prize, and a Cholmondeley Prize (2024). Her latest collection is Taking Liberties (2023).

Nick Laird, Seamus Heaney Professor of Poetry at Queen’s University Belfast, is an award-winning poet, novelist, and screenwriter. His poem "Up Late" won the Forward Prize for Best Poem (2023).

Sinéad Morrissey, Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University, is a T. S. Eliot and Forward Prize-winning poet. Her recent accolades include the Seamus Heaney Award (Japan, 2024) and the European Poet of Freedom Award (2020).

Presented in partnership with Faber, the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.

Wheelchair Users and those with other access needs requiring a free Essential Carer ticket should contact the Quaytickets Box Office on 0161 876 2015 to purchase tickets.