Join us on Thursday 2 July for one of the highlights of the Seamus Heaney Centre calendar, the annual Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize.
We’ll hear short readings from each of the shortlisted poets before Nick Laird, chair of the judges panel, announces and introduces the winner.
The Shortlist includes:
Flèche, by Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber, 2019)
Significant Other, by Isabel Galleymore (Carcanet, 2019)
A Man’s House Catches Fire, by Tom Sastry (Nine Arches Press, 2019)
So Many Rooms, by Laura Scott (Carcanet, 2019)
Fold, by Lucy Wadham (Pindrop Press, 2019)
“Each book on the shortlist is ambitious enough to find, amid the deafening static of real life, a space to communicate in. We were put in mind of John Hewitt’s prescription: 'I do not pitch my voice / that every phrase be heard / by those who have no choice: / their quality of mind / must be withdrawn and still, / as moth that answers moth / across a roaring hill.' Any one of these books would be a worthy winner, and all are worth your time.” - Nick Laird, Chair of the Judges panel
This prestigious prize is awarded annually to a writer whose first full collection has been published in the preceding year, by a UK or Ireland-based publisher. The winning writer receives £5,000. It is supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies.
This year’s judges were Professor Nick Laird, poet and Chair of Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre; Professor Frank Ormsby, Ireland Chair of Poetry; and Dr Leontia Flynn, poet and reader in Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre.
Read profiles of the shortlisted poets here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/seamus-heaney-centre/about/first-collection-poetry-prize/2020ShortlistProfiles/
In late 2019 to early 2020, poetry students from the Seamus Heaney Centre were invited to make new works in response to the Changing Views exhibition at the Ulster Museum.
In place of a pamphlet launch and gallery tour, we invite you to join us for a free virtual tour and poetry reading.
Featur...
With their regular nights in the Crescent Arts Centre on hold, the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s are taking the show online for a special virtual get-together, with special guests Joe Holtaway and Robyn Hitchcock.
Featuring poetry, prose, and song from far-flung Fellows and friends, joining u...