ARTS Michael Longley to read Mayo poems in Ballina

WORDSMITH?Michael Longley.

Michael Longley to read Mayo poems in Ballina

Renowned poet Michael Longley will read some of his ‘Mayo poems’ in Ballina Arts Centre on Saturday, February 21. One of Northern Ireland’s foremost contemporary poets, Longley is celebrated for the quiet beauty of his compact, meditative lyrics.
Known for using classical allusions to cast provocative light on contemporary concerns, including The Troubles, Longley was described by Seamus Heaney as ‘a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders’. He is a central figure in the contemporary Irish poetic landscape and has created a body of work that ensures his importance in the continued evolution of that landscape.
Longley is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and the Wilfred Owen Award. He has won the Whitbread Prize, the TS Eliot Prize, the Hawthornden Prize, The Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Poetry and the Librex Montale Prize.  
For over 40 years, he has been regular visitor to west County Mayo. In that time, he has written many poems set in the county.
The evening will be introduced by Fr Enda McDonagh, retired professor of Moral Theology at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.  

Booking advised. Contact Ballina Arts Centre on 096 73593 for tickets (€15 /€12 each).