To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Seamus Heaney's Nobel Prize win, RTÉ presents a series of radio broadcasts from the archives.
This edition of RTÉ Radio's The Arts Show, presented by Vincent Woods was broadcast as part of the day-long celebrations across RTÉ for Seamus Heaney on his 70th birthday on 13 April 2009.
Vincent introduces Dennis O’Driscoll, poet and author of Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney published by Faber, Heaney’s long-time friend and critic of his work, Helen Vendler, and poet Peter Sirr who contributed the note to the then just published RTÉ Seamus Heaney - Collected Poems CD box set.
The trio discuss a selection of Heaney’s poems they have chosen from the CD. Their observations are fascinating for their perspectives, the relationships they had with the poet and their understanding and insights on his work. Poems covered include The Forge from Door into the Dark (1969), Limbo from Wintering Out (1972), Punishment from North (1975), the closing section of Alphabets from The Haw Lantern (1987) and Anything Can Happen from District and Circle (2006).
The mammoth project of Seamus Heaney recording all the poems from his published collections was supported by The Lannan Foundation and produced and published by RTÉ.
*the poems are not included in this audio at this time
