Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1981-1995 (Creation)
Level of description
Ffeil / File
Extent and medium
1 folder
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Material relating to the compilation and publication of The Art of Seamus Heaney, edited by Tony Curtis and originally published by Poetry Wales Press in 1982, with an introduction by Curtis (see, for example: https://www.serenbooks.com/product/the-art-of-seamus-heaney-paperback/), with references also to later editions of the publication. The material comprises: letters, 1988-1995, to Tony Curtis from Seamus Heaney (two addressed from Cambridge, Massachusetts (see note on Seamus Heaney, below), the remainder addressed from Heaney's home in Dublin), together with photocopied letter from Heaney to Professor Patrick Crotty, with brief note from Heaney to Curtis, and photocopied text of Seamus Heaney's play 'Munro'; letters, 1981-1993 and undated, to Tony Curtis from contributors/potential contributors to The Art of Seamus Heaney, including Professor Edna Longley, Dr Philip Hobsbaum, Professor Ciarán Carson, Professor Christopher Ricks, Professor Barbara Hardy, Douglas Dunn, Anne Stevenson, Bernard O'Donoghue, Peter Fallon, Professor Helen Vendler, Professor Patrick Crotty, Professor Macha Rosenthal, Professor Dick Davis, David (Annwn) Jones and Professor Blake Morrison; letter, 1981, to Tony Curtis from potential publishers Faber and Faber and, 1982, 1984-1985, from eventual publishers Poetry Wales Press; letters, 1984-1985, from Tony Curtis to potential contributors Professor Helen Vendler, Professor Christopher Ricks and Professor Jeremy Hooker and to Poetry Wales Press; research material relating to Seamus Heaney; photocopied acknowledgements, introduction and biographical note on Tony Curtis taken from The Art of Seamus Heaney; and Poetry Wales Press leaflet detailing press publications, including those by, or which include contributions by, Tony Curtis.
Not all correspondents are indexed: for access to full range of correspondents, it is recommended that this section of the archive is requested for viewing.
See also August 2002 and April 2016 papers under heading Goddard College.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Correspondence arranged chronologically; probable dates inserted on undated items.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Portion of one letter excised and replaced by loose section of page: fragile ; item kept in marked envelope.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Poet, playwright and translator Seamus Heaney was born in Tamniaran, Northern Ireland and educated at Queen's University, Belfast. He lecturered at St Joseph's College, Belfast during the early 1960s. From 1981 to 2006, he lived for part of his time in the United States, having being appointed Visiting Professor at Harvard University from 1981 to 1997 and Poet in Residence at the same establishment from 1988 to 2006. He was also Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1989 to 1994. Amongst his many awards and honours, Heaney was appointed a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1996 and a Saoi, the highest honour given by Aosdána, the Irish arts council, in 1998. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_Heaney)
Note
For publishing company Faber & Faber see, for example: https://www.faber.co.uk/
For Poetry Wales Press see, for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seren_Books
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Heaney, Seamus, 1939-2013 (Subject)
- Poetry Wales Press (publishers) (Subject)
- Faber and Faber (Great Britain: publishing company) (Subject)