Annual Report 2019

As part of the Estate’s mission to preserve and promote the work of Seamus Heaney, we have undertaken and collaborated on a number of initiatives in 2019, with key achievements outlined below.


80th BIRTHDAY:
April 13th 2019 marked what would have been Seamus Heaney’s 80th birthday, which generated press coverage and a number of events. At Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy, Co Derry, composer Mohammed Fairouz presented a specially commissioned choral piece, Anything Can Happen; while at the Listen Now Again exhibition in Dublin there were readings and music. Front Row, BBC Radio 4’s flagship arts show, broadcast a special programme dedicated entirely to SH and his life and works. Listen here.

EVENTS:
2019 saw a number of other high-profile events throughout the course of the year, including:

  • Marie and Catherine Heaney in conversation at the Embassy of Ireland’s St Brigid’s Day celebrations, with readings by Stephen Rea; London, February

  • ‘Salute to Seamus’ tribute at the Yeats International Summer School in Sligo, August 

  • The Heaney family took part in popular events at various festivals, including Queen’s Park Book Festival, London (June), All Together Now in Waterford (August), and Folkestone Book Festival (November)

  • A hugely successful series of launch events for the US publication of 100 Poems in Washington DC, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in September and October

  • Seamus Heaney: Blackbird event, organised by Poet in the City and featuring discussion and readings by Roy Foster, Vona Groarke, Glenn Patterson and Bríd Brennan at Kings Place London, November


SEAMUS HEANEY ANNUAL LECTURE:
October saw the inauguration of a major new initiative, the Annual Seamus Heaney Lecture at the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Professor Louise Richardson (Vice Chancellor, Oxford University), accompanied by readings of Heaney’s poems by the actor Adrian Dunbar. Read more and watch the lecture here.

SEAMUS HEANEY AND THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS:
In November, a major new feature-length documentary – Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens – was broadcast on BBC2. It was produced by DoubleBand Films and Lone Star Productions as part of the Arena arts series, and featured interviews with family members and friends alongside archive material. It met with great critical acclaim across the British and Irish press, and was repeated on BBC Northern Ireland in January, with select international screenings planned for 2020.

PUBLISHING:
As work continues on future ‘Collected’ volumes, August saw the US publication of 100 Poems by FSG, profiled in an extensive piece in The New Yorker, which you can read here.
In November, Oxford University Press published Seamus Heaney and the Classics, a new collection of scholarly essays.

SEAMUS HEANEY LISTEN NOW AGAIN:
The National Library of Ireland’s exhibition, Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, at the Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre in College Green, Dublin continued to build upon its successful 2018 opening with:

  • A nomination for Best International Exhibition at the British Museum and Heritage Awards in May 

  • Reaching 150,000 visitors in November 2019, less than sixteen months after opening

  • A hugely successful series of lunchtime concerts in the summer, featuring musicians accompanied by poets and actors reading Heaney’s work. Some of these will be reprised in April 2020 at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris

  • A prestigious Good Design Award, presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum in December

SEAMUS HEANEY HOMEPLACE:
The Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy, Co. Derry continued to develop its ambitious arts and education programme, clocking up some significant successes (see below) in addition to attracting visitors to its permanent exhibition. 

  • The undoubted highlight of the year’s cultural programme was Van Morrison, who played three sold-out gigs in August, with people travelling from 19 countries to attend.

  • Seamus Heaney HomePlace is one of 23 experiences across Northern Ireland to be chosen as representatives of Tourism NI’s ‘Embrace A Giant Spirit’ campaign.

  • The Heartland Project, part of the SHHP’s successful education programme, won a Heritage Angel Award in the ‘Best Contribution To A Heritage Project By Young People’ category.