NOBEL Laureate Seamus Heaney has given a special poetry reading at Laurel Villa guesthouse in Magherafelt.
The occasion was the 40th. anniversary of the publication of the poet’s second collection Door Into The Dark which first appeared in June 1969.
Laurel Villa owners Eugene and Gerardine Kielt said they were delighted to be able to host such an impo
rtant event and paid tribute to Seamus Heaney for his personal appearance.
“A few weeks ago Seamus Heaney attracted a capacity crowd of 1,200 people to the National Concert Hall in Dublin – believed to be the largest ever poetry audience in Ireland – and tonight he read to what must have been one of his smallest gatherings,” said Eugene. “We are really thrilled to have been able to honour one of the world’s greatest literary figures through this event.”
In his introduction Mr Kielt noted that Seamus Heaney’s very first Magherafelt reading took place at the County Secondary School, now Magherafelt High School, back in November 1965.
Long-standing Heaney fans Maeve and Vivienne Arnold from Magherafelt, who attended that early poetry reading, were among those in the audience at Laurel Villa.
During the evening Seamus Heaney read a number of poems from the featured collection, including Thatcher, Relic of Memory and A Lough Neagh Sequence, as well as the poem which gave the collection its title, The Forge.
The packed audience were also treated to some of his more recent poems such as A Clip and Anahorish 1944 both of which were set in the locality around Mossbawn, Heaney’s birthplace near Castledawson.
In characteristic Heaney fashion the poetry was peppered with plenty of amusing and illuminating anecdotes which made for a highly entertaining evening.
Afterwards, the prize-winning poet thanked the organisers “for the thought of celebrating the 40th. birthday of Door Into The Dark and for the effort it took to arrange the evening.” He also remarked on the ambience of the venue and the hospitality provided to poets and poetry by the owners of Laurel Villa.
Among those who attended the event was Mr Toru Sato, a Heaney enthusiast, translator and academic from Japan.
He said: “I teach Seamus Heaney’s poems at a university in Tokyo and I am a regular visitor to Northern Ireland.
“Actually I was here a few months ago but I just had to come back to Laurel Villa for this special event to celebrate Seamus Heaney’s wonderful collection, Door Into The Dark.
“It was great to have the opportunity to honour Seamus Heaney and to hear him read again. It was a truly memorable evening and well worth the long journey from Japan.”
