Listen Now Again: A Mindfulness Tour of Seamus Heaney

Join us for a guided tour as we explore the life and work of Seamus Heaney through the lens of mindfulness.

During this tour we will consider uplifting lines and introspection from Heaney’s poetry while exploring the sense of uncertainty he experienced throughout his career. While achieving great success as a poet, playwright and translator Heaney, most often in personal correspondence, expressed doubt over longevity and was superstitious about becoming too comfortable.

Curated by Professor Geraldine Higgins, Director of Irish Studies at Emory University, this exhibition was created in partnership between the NLI, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and Bank of Ireland.

This exhibition draws on the extensive archive donated by Seamus Heaney and his family to the National Library of Ireland in 2011. Heaney’s personal writing desk offers a focal point to the experience that explores Heaney’s creative process through original manuscripts, as well as letters, unpublished works, diary entries, photographs, personal artefacts and multimedia recordings.