Seamus Heaney Tribute, Kings Place

‘Don’t be afraid’. These were Seamus Heaney’s last words, written in Latin just moments before his death last year. This boldness and buoyancy is characteristic of a poet who won the Nobel Prize ‘for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past’.

To celebrate this momentous talent and legacy, arts organisation Poet in the City is hosting a Seamus Heaney Tribute Evening. The writer’s friends, fellow poets, contemporaries and expert critics will come together to celebrate his life and work with personal insights and poetry readings. Close friends will share recollections to build an intimate glimpse into Heaney’s life. Actor Stephen Rea will read some of Heaney's poems and reflect upon their time working together in the Field Day Theatre Co in Belfast.    Critics will explore the literary significance of Heaney’s verse. Discussing the influence of the ‘greatest Irish poet since Yeats’, there will also be rare appearances from contemporary poets and writers, including Oxford's Bernhard O’Donoghue and Tom Paulin. This exciting collaboration is a rousing way to pay homage to such a multifaceted talent, and to gain an insight into one of the most captivating poets of the twentieth century.