{"id":14997,"date":"2017-09-06T09:42:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T08:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=14997"},"modified":"2017-09-06T09:43:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T08:43:01","slug":"seamus-heaney-homeplace-celebrates-literary-greats-this-autumn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2017\/09\/seamus-heaney-homeplace-celebrates-literary-greats-this-autumn\/","title":{"rendered":"Seamus Heaney HomePlace celebrates literary greats this autumn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tribute events to two key Heaney influences – Patrick Kavanagh and Michael McLaverty<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"Autumn guests at Seamus Heaney HomePlace include Jennifer Johnston, Colin Davidson, Ardal O\u2019Hanlon, Ciaran McMenamin, Fintan O\u2019Toole and Robert McCrum<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Two of Seamus Heaney\u2019s greatest literary influences \u2013 poet\u00a0Patrick Kavanagh<\/strong>\u00a0and writer\u00a0Michael McLaverty<\/strong>\u00a0– are being celebrated with a number of events taking place as part of the newly unveiled autumn programme at\u00a0Seamus Heaney HomePlace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In a cross-border collaboration funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, HomePlace will be working with the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Monaghan to explore the works of Kavanagh, Heaney and the shared links in their writing.<\/p>\n

2017 marks the 50th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of the death of\u00a0Patrick Kavanagh<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 whose poetry Heaney described as combining\u00a0\u201cbag-apron realism and far-horizon vision\u201d \u2013<\/em>\u00a0and events will take place in their respective literary centres in both Monaghan and Bellaghy.<\/p>\n

The HomePlace events on Saturday 7 October will include a children\u2019s writing workshop on the theme of home, a lecture by Dr Una Agnew evaluating Kavanagh\u2019s influence on Heaney and their respective literary legacies and a performance of Kavanagh\u2019s\u00a0\u2018The Great Hunger\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>by the\u00a0Lyric Theatre<\/strong>, which will meld spoken word, film, and sound to evoke the poet\u2019s exploration of country life.<\/p>\n

One of Ireland\u2019s greatest short story writers,\u00a0Michael McLaverty,<\/strong>\u00a0died 25 years ago and on Saturday 28 October family members and literary experts will come together to discuss his life, work and relationship with Heaney.\u00a0 The event will feature a reading of Heaney\u2019s \u2018Tribute to Michael McLaverty\u2019 by actor Vincent Higgins and will be preceded from Saturday 21 October by\u00a0\u2018Fosterage\u2019<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>an exhibition exploring McLaverty\u2019s life and work, presented in association with Linen Hall Library.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0\u2018Capturing Seamus: The Art of the Portrait\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>on Sunday 8 October, three artists who have created a portrait of Heaney – artist\u00a0Colin Davidson\u00a0<\/strong>and photographers\u00a0Eamonn McCabe<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Geray Sweeney<\/strong>\u00a0– will discuss the context and experience of working with him and the process of capturing his essence in just one image, in an event chaired by\u00a0Declan Long<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Often described as the definitive documentary of the life and work of Seamus Heaney,\u00a0\u2018Out of the Marvellous\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>was created in 2009 to mark the poet\u2019s 70th<\/sup>\u00a0birthday.\u00a0 Filmmaker Charlie McCarthy will discuss the film with BBC Northern Ireland\u2019s Mark Carruthers following a special screening on Saturday 25 November.<\/p>\n

Poet and professional glasses-wearer\u00a0John Hegley<\/strong>\u00a0makes his HomePlace debut on Friday 20 October with two shows – \u2018Peace, Love and Potatoes\u2019, with poems and songs inspired by memories of his childhood and \u2018I am a Poetato\u2019, featuring songs, jokes and rhymes, for children aged 8-12 years.<\/p>\n

The fun continues on Thursday 23 November with actor, comedian and writer\u00a0Ardal O\u2019Hanlon<\/strong>\u00a0(\u2018Father Ted\u2019) who will be in conversation with BBC Northern Ireland\u2019s William Crawley about his wide-ranging career, love of literature and famous acting creations.<\/p>\n

Looking back at her career of almost 50 years, her reputation and her legacy, one of Ireland\u2019s most important contemporary novelists\u00a0Jennifer Johnston<\/strong>\u00a0will be in conversation with fellow author Martina Devlin on Saturday 14 October.<\/p>\n

The explosion of new Irish writing talent comes under the spotlight in two events in the HomePlace this autumn.\u00a0 On Sunday 15 October,\u00a0\u2018Young Blood\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0sees three debut authors \u2013 actor\u00a0Ciaran McMenamin<\/strong>,\u00a0Sally Rooney<\/strong>, one of The Observer\u2019s Rising Stars of 2017 and former journalist\u00a0June Caldwell<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 share their fresh and irreverent takes on life in Ireland today.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2018A Constable Calls\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0on Saturday 11 November, meanwhile, looks at the rise of crime writing following political changes in Northern Ireland and includes contributions from authors\u00a0Eoin McNamee, Liz Nugent\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Declan Burke<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Award-winning journalist and commentator\u00a0Fintan O\u2019Toole<\/strong>\u00a0makes a welcome return to HomePlace on Thursday 7 December to discuss the issues that have dominated the news over the past twelve months \u2013 from President Trump to the UK general election and the consequences for the UK and Ireland of triggering Article 50.<\/p>\n

The prospect of death and its aftermath for those left behind are explored in two events.\u00a0 On Sunday 5 November, author and journalist\u00a0Robert McCrum<\/strong>\u00a0discusses his new book, \u2018Every Third Thought\u2019, his literary and personal response to his own mortality and his friendship with and memories of Heaney. In \u2018Who Am I Now?\u2019 on Saturday 21 October, actress and comedian\u00a0Nuala McKeever<\/strong>\u00a0leads an expressive and creative writing session for anyone living with life-changing loss.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty on offer for theatre fans too, with\u00a0\u2018Green and Blue\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0from Kabosh Theatre Company looking at the realities of patrolling the border during the conflict on Tuesday 17 October; Stephen Beggs exploring the funny, challenging and emotional issue of fatherhood in\u00a0\u2018My Father\u2019s Chair\u2019<\/strong>on Saturday 4 November and Olivier Award-winning actor Guy Masterson (and nephew of Richard Burton!), bringing the Charles Dickens classic\u00a0\u2018A Christmas Carol\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>to life in a one-man show just in time for the festive season, on Thursday 14 December.<\/p>\n

Tickets for all October \u2013 December events at Seamus Heaney HomePlace are on sale now at\u00a0<\/strong>www.seamusheaneyhome.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>or from box office on tel. 028 79387444.\u00a0 The full online programme is available to view here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tribute events to two key Heaney influences – Patrick Kavanagh and Michael McLaverty Autumn guests at Seamus Heaney HomePlace include Jennifer Johnston, Colin Davidson, Ardal O\u2019Hanlon, Ciaran McMenamin, Fintan O\u2019Toole and Robert McCrum Two of Seamus Heaney\u2019s greatest literary influences \u2013 poet\u00a0Patrick Kavanagh\u00a0and writer\u00a0Michael McLaverty\u00a0– are being celebrated with a number of events taking place … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14997"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15000,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14997\/revisions\/15000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}