‘A Heard Melody’: A Celebration of The Translations of Seamus Heaney

‘whatever is given, can always be reimagined’ Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, published in 1999, was immediately hailed as an undisputed masterpiece and in 2016 the posthumous publication of his translation of Virgil’s Aeneid Book VI created a similar stir.

Now, for the first time, the poet, critic, and essayist’s translations have been gathered in one volume. Heaney not only translated classic works of Latin and Old English but also a great number of poems from Spanish, Russian, German, Scottish Gaelic, Czech, Classical and Modern Greek, and more. In particular, the Nobel laureate engaged with works in Old, Middle and modern Irish, the languages of his home and upbringing.

In The Complete
Translations of Seamus Heaney, editor Marco Sonzogni has collected Heaney’s translations and framed them with the poet’s own writings on his works and their composition from his introductions, interviews, and commentary. Through these writings, we come closer to grasping the true extent of Heaney’s extraordinary abilities and of his great genius.

To celebrate the publication of this remarkable collection, we are delighted to welcome poets and translators Bernard O’Donoghue, Sasha Dugdale and Jamie McKendrick who will talk about the art of translating poetry and Heaney’s work in this field. Marco Sonzogni will also join us with a special pre-recorded message sent from his home place in New Zealand.