Nostalgia in the Afternoon: From Gorgon to The New Yorker with Pat Brennan

From his early days at Queen’s University Belfast, Seamus
Heaney was an avid contributor to various magazines and periodicals. This area
of publishing was very important in his development as a writer and expanded
his audience and readership.

Over the years the volume of contributions grew and
Heaney often used magazines as a ‘sounding board’ for early drafts of poems
which were subsequently reprinted ‘as is’ in collections, revised or never
used again.

Join Pat Brennan as he explores this aspect of Seamus
Heaney’s literary legacy.

Pat is a native of Bellaghy and his family have been friends
of the wider Heaney family for many years. Working in Dublin, Pat became
friendly with Seamus Heaney and has accumulated a unique and extensive
collection of books by Heaney and other materials related to the poet.

In 1998 at Heaney’s request, Pat assisted Dr Rand Brandes
with the compilation of Heaney’s bibliography and following his retirement, Pat
worked in Bellaghy Bawn, a small museum in the village with Seamus Heaney
memorabilia as its focal point. Pat was also a consultant with Tandem Design
during the curation of the Man & Boy
exhibition at Seamus Heaney HomePlace.