To attend via Zoom, please register in advance for this meeting here. No registration is required to attend in person.
The Poetry Salon at Abbot Public Library begins a new season on Thursday, November 17 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm at the library’s interim location, the Eveleth School, 3 Brook Road, Marblehead. This season’s focus will be on poets who have won major prizes, either the Nobel or the Pulitzer.
The November poet is Seamus Heaney, winner of many awards including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. Heaney was an Irish poet, playwright, and translator, described by Robert Lowell as “the most important Irish poet since Yeats.” Heaney was a professor at Harvard from 1981 to 1997, and its Poet in Residence from 1988 to 2006. During this time, he gave a reading at Salem State and visited Marblehead, where he sampled the food and drink at Maddi’s. Since Heaney was born and educated in Northern Ireland and lived during the “Troubles,” his poetry reflects some of the issues of a society divided along religious and political lines. At the same time, his poetry can be deeply personal and reflective.
Please join Claire Keyes, Professor Emerita at Salem State University, for an in-depth discussion of Heaney’s poems either in person or via Zoom. To attend via Zoom, please register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Poetry packets are available near the library’s Main Desk or online here: Heaney poems.