Editing Seamus Heaney (section)

== Career ==

===1957–1969===
{{further|topic=his works during this period|Death of a Naturalist|Door into the Dark}}
[[File:SeamusHeaneyLowRes.jpg|thumb|upright|Seamus Heaney in 1970]]
{{Quote box |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
 |quote =<poem>
My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.

</poem>
 |source =from "Digging", ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966)}}
Heaney studied English Language and Literature at [[Queen's University Belfast]] starting in 1957. While there, he found a copy of [[Ted Hughes]]'s ''Lupercal,'' which spurred him to write poetry. "Suddenly, the matter of contemporary poetry was the material of my own life," he said.<ref name="bbc_faces_of_the_week">{{Cite news |date=19 January 2007 |title=Faces of the week |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6279053.stm |access-date=9 April 2010 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> He graduated in 1961 with a First Class Honours degree.<ref name="YourPlaceAndMine">{{Cite web |title=Your Place and Mine: Bellaghy – Seamus Heaney |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/londonderry/A803639.shtml |access-date=12 April 2019 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Heaney studied for a teacher certification at St Joseph's Teacher Training College in Belfast (now merged with [[St. Mary's University College (Belfast)|St Mary's, University College]]), and began teaching at St Thomas' Secondary Intermediate School in [[Ballymurphy, Belfast]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Heaney |first=Seamus |date=13 April 2002 |title=Sweet airs that delight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/apr/13/artsandhumanities.highereducation |access-date=1 June 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The headmaster of this school was the writer [[Michael McLaverty]] from [[County Monaghan]], who introduced Heaney to the poetry of [[Patrick Kavanagh]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/china-aboutuk-northernireland-literature-poetry-seamus.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009142735/http://www.britishcouncil.org/china-aboutuk-northernireland-literature-poetry-seamus.htm |archive-date=9 October 2012 |access-date=23 May 2010 |publisher=British Council}}</ref><ref name="assets.cambridge.org">[http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/38825/frontmatter/9780521838825_frontmatter.pdf Ed. Bernard O'Donoghue ''The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney'' (2009) Cambridge University Press pxiii] {{ISBN|978-0-521-54755-0}}. Retrieved 23 May 2010.</ref> With McLaverty's mentorship, Heaney first started to publish poetry in 1962. [[Sophia Hillan]] describes how McLaverty was like a foster father to the younger Belfast poet.<ref>Sophia Hillan, ''New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua'', Vol. 9, No. 3 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 86–106. "Wintered into Wisdom: Michael McLaverty, Seamus Heaney, and the Northern Word-Hoard". University of St. Thomas (Center for Irish Studies)</ref> In the introduction to McLaverty's ''Collected Works,'' Heaney summarised the poet's contribution and influence: "His voice was modestly pitched, he never sought the limelight, yet for all that, his place in our literature is secure."<ref>McLaverty, Michael (2002) ''Collected Short Stories'', Blackstaff Press Ltd, p. xiii, {{ISBN|0-85640-727-5}}.</ref> Heaney's poem "Fosterage", in the sequence "Singing School", from ''[[North (poetry collection)|North]]'' (1975), is dedicated to him.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sophia Hillan |date=20 October 2017 |title=Michael McLaverty, Seamus Heaney and the writerly bond |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/michael-mclaverty-seamus-heaney-and-the-writerly-bond-1.3263062 |work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

In 1963 Heaney began lecturing at St Joseph's, and joined the [[Belfast Group]], a poets' workshop organized by [[Philip Hobsbaum]], then an English lecturer at Queen's University. Through this, Heaney met other Belfast poets, including [[Derek Mahon]] and [[Michael Longley]].<ref name="YourPlaceAndMine" />

Heaney met Marie Devlin, a native of [[Ardboe]], County Tyrone, while at St Joseph's in 1962; they married in August 1965<ref name="lifeofrhyme" /><ref name="YourPlaceAndMine" /> and would go on to have three children.<ref name="times-obit" /><ref name="guardian-obit" /> A school teacher and writer, Devlin published ''Over Nine Waves'' (1994), a collection of traditional Irish myths and legends. Heaney's first book, ''Eleven Poems,'' was published in November 1965 for the Queen's University Festival.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peter Badge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRD2K80JYpYC&pg=PA504 |title=Nobel Faces: A Gallery of Nobel Prize Winners |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-527-40678-4 |page=504}}</ref> In 1966 their first son, Michael, was born. He earned a living at the time by writing for ''[[The Irish Times]]'', often on the subject of radio.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mick Heaney |date=22 January 2021 |title=Don't sweat the big stuff: Top earner Tubridy sticks to small talk |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/don-t-sweat-the-big-stuff-top-earner-tubridy-sticks-to-small-talk-1.4464278 |work=The Irish Times |quote=By way of full disclosure, I need to mention that Tubridy also makes several kind comments about my father, Seamus Heaney, throughout the week.}}</ref> A second son, Christopher, was born in 1968.

Heaney initially sought publication with [[Dolmen Press]] in Dublin for his first volume of work. While waiting to hear back, he was signed with [[Faber and Faber]] and published ''[[Death of a Naturalist]]'' in 1966, and Faber remained his publisher for the rest of his life. This collection was met with much critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Gregory Award for Young Writers and the Geoffrey Faber Prize.<ref name="assets.cambridge.org" /> The same year, he was appointed as a lecturer in Modern English Literature at [[Queen's University Belfast]]. In 1968, Heaney and [[Michael Longley]] undertook a reading tour called ''Room to Rhyme'', which increased awareness of the poet's work. The following year, he published his second major volume, ''[[Door into the Dark]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Andrew Motion |author-link=Andrew Motion |date=17 August 2014 |title=Door into the Dark opened the portals to a different future |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/17/door-into-the-dark-seamus-heaney-andrew-motion |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

===1970–1984===
{{further|topic=his works during this period|Wintering Out|North (poetry collection)|Field Work (poetry collection)|Selected Poems 1965–1975}}
Heaney taught as a visiting professor in English at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in the 1970–1971 academic year.<ref name="OShea2016">{{Cite journal |last=O'Shea |first=Edward |year=2016 |title=Seamus Heaney at Berkeley, 1970–71 |journal=Southern California Quarterly |volume=98 |issue=2 |pages=157–193 |doi=10.1525/ucpsocal.2016.98.2.157 |issn=0038-3929}}</ref> In 1972, he left his lectureship in Belfast, moved to [[Wicklow]] in the Republic of Ireland, and began writing on a full-time basis. That year, he published his third collection, ''[[Wintering Out]]''. His daughter Catherine Ann was born in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |title= Heaney, Seamus Justin |url= https://www.dib.ie/biography/heaney-seamus-justin-a10036 |author= O'Donoghue, Bernard |work= The Dictionary of Irish Biography |access-date= 31 January 2025}}</ref> In 1975, Heaney's next volume, ''[[North (poetry collection)|North]]'', was published.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seamus Heaney |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1995/heaney/biographical/ |website=Nobel Prize}}</ref> A pamphlet of prose poems entitled ''[[Stations (poetry collection)|Stations]]'' was published the same year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Floyd Collins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfHKH2HlwbYC&pg=PA76 |title=Seamus Heaney: The Crisis of Identity |publisher=University of Delaware Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-87413-805-4 |page=76}}</ref>

In 1976 Heaney was appointed Head of English at [[Carysfort College]] in Dublin and moved with his family to the suburb of [[Sandymount]]. His next collection, ''[[Field Work (poetry collection)|Field Work]]'', was published in 1979. ''[[Selected Poems 1965-1975]]'' and ''Preoccupations: Selected Prose 1968–1978'' were published in 1980. When ''[[Aosdána]],'' the national Irish Arts Council, was established in 1981, Heaney was among those elected into its first group. (He was subsequently elected a ''[[Saoi]],'' one of its five elders and its highest honour, in 1997).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Biography |url=http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/Members/Literature/Heaney.aspx |work=Aosdána}}</ref>

Also in 1981, Heaney travelled to the United States as a visiting professor at Harvard, where he was affiliated with [[Adams House (Harvard University)|Adams House]]. He was awarded two honorary doctorates, from Queen's University and from [[Fordham University]] in New York City (1982). At the Fordham commencement ceremony on 23 May 1982, Heaney delivered his address as a 46-stanza poem entitled "Verses for a Fordham Commencement."<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 August 2013 |title=Fordham Notes: Seamus Heaney's "Verses for a Fordham Commencement" |url=http://fordhamnotes.blogspot.com/2013/08/seamus-heaneys-verses-for-fordham.html |access-date=3 November 2016 |website=Fordham Notes}}</ref>

Born and educated in Northern Ireland, Heaney stressed that he was Irish and not British.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 August 2013 |title=Irish Nobel Prize Poet Seamus Heaney Dies Aged 74 -VIDEO |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/502601/20130830/seamus-heaney-died-irish-poet.htm |access-date=30 August 2013 |publisher=Ibtimes.co.uk}}</ref> Following the success of the [[Field Day Theatre Company]]'s production of [[Brian Friel]]'s ''[[Translations (play)|Translations]],'' the founders Brian Friel and [[Stephen Rea]] decided to make the company a permanent group. Heaney joined the company's expanded Board of Directors in 1981.<ref>''The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney'', "Heaney in Public" by [[Dennis O'Driscoll]] (p56-72). {{ISBN|0-521-54755-5}}.</ref> In autumn 1984, his mother, Margaret, died.<!-- re [[WP:SEASON]] this should really be "18 October 1984", but unable to find a RS source --><ref name="parker-2212" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Barclay Agency profile |url=http://barclayagency.com/heaney.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508153854/http://barclayagency.com/heaney.html |archive-date=8 May 2012 |access-date=30 August 2013 |publisher=Barclayagency.com}}</ref> Three years later he would publish eight [[sonnet]]s, under the title ''Clearances'', as a tribute to his mother.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57042/clearances|title=Clearances|website=The Poetry Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fawbie.info/category/the-haw-lantern/clearances/|title=Clearances by Seamus Heaney - Analysis}}</ref>

===1985–1999===
{{further|topic=his works during this period|Station Island (poetry)|The Haw Lantern|The Cure at Troy|The Spirit Level (poetry collection)}}
[[File:Heaneys.jpg|thumb|right|Marie and Seamus Heaney at the Dominican Church, [[Kraków]], Poland, 4 October 1996]]
Heaney became a tenured faculty member at Harvard, as the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory (formerly visiting professor) 1985–1997, and the [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] Poet in Residence at Harvard 1998–2006.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101214173915/http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth189 British Council biography of Heaney]. Retrieved 19 April 2010.</ref> In 1986, Heaney received a Litt.D. from [[Bates College]]. His father, Patrick, died in October the same year.<ref name="parker-2212" /> The loss of both parents within two years affected Heaney deeply, and he expressed his grief in poems.<ref name="parker-2212" /> In 1988, a collection of his critical essays, ''The Government of the Tongue'', was published.

In 1985 Heaney wrote the poem "From the Republic of Conscience" at the request of [[Amnesty International]] Ireland. He wanted to "celebrate United Nations Day and the work of Amnesty".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seamus Heaney, Poet |url=http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/110 |access-date=30 November 2014 |website=Frontline Defenders}}</ref> The poem inspired the title of Amnesty International's highest honour, the [[Ambassador of Conscience Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=From the Republic of Conscience |url=http://www.amnesty.ie/RepublicofConscience |access-date=30 November 2014 |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref>

In 1988 Heaney donated his lecture notes to the Rare Book Library of [[Emory University]] in [[Atlanta]], Georgia, after giving the notable [[Richard Ellmann|Ellmann]] Lectures there.<ref>[http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/01/er_seamus_heaney_exhibit/campus.html "Seamus Heaney Exhibit"], Emory University, January 2014</ref>

In 1989 Heaney was elected [[Oxford Professor of Poetry]], which he held for a five-year term to 1994. The chair does not require residence in Oxford. Throughout this period, he divided his time between Ireland and the United States. He also continued to give public readings. These events were so well attended and keenly anticipated that those who queued for tickets with such enthusiasm were sometimes dubbed "Heaneyboppers", suggesting an almost [[teenybopper]] fan base.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 October 2008 |title=Heaney 'catches the heart off guard' |url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/10/heaney-%E2%80%98catches-the-heart-off-guard%E2%80%99/ |access-date=15 May 2010 |website=Harvard News Office |publisher=[[Harvard University]] |quote=Over the years, readings by poet Seamus Heaney have been so wildly popular that his fans are called "Heaneyboppers."}}</ref>

In 1990 ''[[The Cure at Troy]]'', a play based on [[Sophocles]]'s ''[[Philoctetes (Sophocles)|Philoctetes]],''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Play Listing |url=http://www.irishplayography.com/search/play.asp?play_id=617 |access-date=24 August 2007 |website=Irish Playography |publisher=Irish Theatre Institute}}</ref> was published. The next year, he published another volume of poetry, ''[[Seeing Things (poetry)|Seeing Things]]'' (1991). Heaney was named an Honorary Patron of the [[University Philosophical Society]], [[Trinity College Dublin]], and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]] (1991).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Society of Literature All Fellows |url=http://www.rslit.org/content/fellows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305070326/http://www.rslit.org/content/fellows |archive-date=5 March 2010 |access-date=9 August 2010 |publisher=Royal Society of Literature}}</ref>

In 1993 Heaney guest-edited ''[[The Mays]] Anthology'', a collection of new writing from students at the University of Oxford and [[University of Cambridge]]. That same year, he was awarded the [[Dickinson College]] Arts Award and returned to the Pennsylvania college to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. He was scheduled to return to Dickinson again to receive the Harold and Ethel L. Stellfox Award—for a major literary figure—at the time of his death in 2013. Irish poet [[Paul Muldoon]] was named recipient of the award that year, partly in recognition of the close connection between the two poets.

Heaney was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 1995 for "works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past".<ref name="nobel_prize">{{Cite web |date=7 October 2010 |title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1995 |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1995/ |access-date=7 October 2010 |publisher=Nobelprize}}</ref> He was on holiday in Greece with his wife when the news broke. Neither journalists nor his own children could reach him until he arrived at [[Dublin Airport]] two days later, although an Irish television camera traced him to [[Kalamata]]. Asked how he felt to have his name added to the Irish Nobel pantheon of [[W. B. Yeats]], [[George Bernard Shaw]] and [[Samuel Beckett]], Heaney responded: "It's like being a little foothill at the bottom of a mountain range. You hope you just live up to it. It's extraordinary."<ref name="laureate" /> He and his wife Marie were immediately taken from the airport to [[Áras an Uachtaráin]] for champagne with President [[Mary Robinson]].<ref name="laureate">{{Cite news |last=Clarity |first=James F. |date=9 October 1995 |title=Laureate and Symbol, Heaney Returns Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/20/specials/heaney-laureate.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He would refer to the prize discreetly as "the N thing" in personal exchanges with others.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boland |first=Rosita |date=17 June 2017 |title=Michael Longley: 'Being 77 and three-quarters is the best time of my life' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/michael-longley-being-77-and-three-quarters-is-the-best-time-of-my-life-1.3097831 |access-date=17 June 2017 |work=[[The Irish Times]] |quote='Seamus once thanked me for the way I dealt with what he called 'the N Thing',' Longley says, making tea. 'The N thing?' I ask, halfway through my sardine sandwich. 'The Nobel', he says. 'That I kept it in proportion – the way most of the world didn't. But I have had to be very judicious answering questions about Seamus since he's been turned into a kind of saint'.}}</ref>

Heaney's 1996 collection ''[[The Spirit Level (poetry)|The Spirit Level]]'' won the [[Costa Book Awards|Whitbread Book of the Year Award]]; he repeated the success in 1999 with ''[[Beowulf: A New Verse Translation]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beowulf: A New Translation |url=http://www.rambles.net/heaney_beowulf.html |access-date=20 November 2010 |publisher=Rambles.net}}</ref>

Heaney was elected a Member of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] in 1996 and was admitted in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 August 2013 |title=Seamus Heaney MRIA 1939–2013 – A Very Special Academician |url=http://www.ria.ie/News/Seamus-Heaney-MRIA-1939-2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426202138/http://www.ria.ie/News/Seamus-Heaney-MRIA-1939-2013 |archive-date=26 April 2014 |access-date=8 September 2013 |publisher=ria.ie}}</ref> In the same year, Heaney was elected [[Saoi]] of [[Aosdána]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 August 2013 |title=Seamus Heaney |url=http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/getdoc/c58ed13b-d56c-4807-8c87-98802d8dd7a9/Heaney.aspx |access-date=8 September 2013 |publisher=aosdána.artscouncil.ie}}</ref> In 1998, Heaney was elected Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 December 2012 |title=Trinity College Dublin announces new Professorship – Seamus Heaney Professorship in Irish Writing |url=https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/trinity-college-dublin-announces-new-professorship-seamus-heaney-professorship-in-irish-writing/ |work=Trinity College Dublin}}</ref>

===2000s===
[[File:Seamus Heaney Centre.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry]], which was officially opened at [[Queen's University Belfast]] in 2004]]
[[File:Seamus Heaney Photograph Edit.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Seamus Heaney in 2009]]
In 2000 Heaney was awarded an honorary doctorate and delivered the commencement address at the [[University of Pennsylvania]].<ref>[http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/nobel-laureate-seamus-heaney-deliver-commencement-address-university-pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania. Honorary Degree awarded]. Retrieved 19 September 2010.</ref> In 2002, Heaney was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Rhodes University]] and delivered a public lecture on "The Guttural Muse".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rhodes Department of English Annual Report 2002-2003 |url=http://www.ru.ac.za/publications/Annual_Report_%20inside02-03.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414062702/http://www.ru.ac.za/publications/Annual_Report_%20inside02-03.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2008 |access-date=18 October 2007}} from the [[Rhodes University]] website.</ref>

In 2003 the [[Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry]] was opened at [[Queen's University Belfast]]. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, along with a full catalogue of his radio and television presentations.<ref>[http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SeamusHeaneyCentreforPoetry/ The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry], [[Queen's University Belfast]] website</ref> That same year, Heaney decided to lodge a substantial portion of his literary archive at [[Emory University]] as a memorial to the work of [[William Chace|William M. Chace]], the university's recently retired president.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2003 |title=Emory Acquires Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney Letters |url=http://www.emory.edu/news/Releases/seamus1064430623.html |website=press release |publisher=[[Emory University]] |quote="When I was here this summer for commencement, I came to the decision that the conclusion of President Chace's tenure was the moment of truth, and that I should now lodge a substantial portion of my literary archive in the Woodruff Library, including the correspondence from many of the poets already represented in its special collections," said Heaney in making the announcement. "So I am pleased to say these letters are now here and that even though President Chace is departing, as long as my papers stay here, they will be a memorial to the work he has done to extend the university's resources and strengthen its purpose."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=25 September 2003 |title=Poet Heaney donates papers to Emory |url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/09/25/met_391035.shtml |access-date=25 September 2003 |work=[[The Augusta Chronicle]]}}</ref> The Emory papers represented the largest repository of Heaney's work (1964–2003). He donated these to help build their [[Emory University#Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Library (MARBL)|large existing archive]] of material from Irish writers including Yeats, [[Paul Muldoon]], [[Ciaran Carson]], [[Michael Longley]] and other members of the [[Belfast Group]].<ref>[http://marbl.library.emory.edu/conduct-research/online-collections Emory University. Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001032200/http://marbl.library.emory.edu/conduct-research/online-collections |date=1 October 2011 }}. Online collection of the [[Belfast Group]] archive.</ref>

In 2003, when asked if there was any figure in popular culture who aroused interest in poetry and lyrics, Heaney praised American rap artist [[Eminem]] from Detroit, saying, "He has created a sense of what is possible. He has sent a voltage around a generation. He has done this not just through his subversive attitude but also his verbal energy."<ref>Eminem, ''The Way I Am'', autobiography, cover sheet. Published 21 October 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=30 June 2003 |title=Seamus Heaney praises Eminem |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3033614.stm |access-date=9 April 2010 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> Heaney wrote the poem "[[Beacons at Bealtaine]]" to mark the [[Enlargement of the European Union|2004 EU Enlargement]]. He read the poem at a ceremony for the 25 leaders of the enlarged [[European Union]], arranged by the Irish [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union|EU presidency]].

In August 2006 Heaney had a stroke. Although he recovered and joked, "Blessed are the pacemakers" when fitted with a heart monitor,<ref name="belfast">[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/heaney-bid-farewell-at-funeral-29545558.html "Heaney bid farewell at funeral"], ''Belfast Telegraph'', 2 September 2013.</ref> he cancelled all public engagements for several months.<ref>''Today Programme'', [[BBC Radio 4]], 16 January 2007.</ref> He was in [[County Donegal]] at the time of the 75th birthday of Anne Friel, wife of playwright [[Brian Friel]].<ref name="lifeofrhyme" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 July 2009 |title=Poet 'cried for father' after stroke |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8158697.stm |access-date=20 July 2009 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> He read the works of [[Henning Mankell]], [[Donna Leon]] and [[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]] while in hospital. Among his visitors was former President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref name="lifeofrhyme" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Antoinette |date=19 July 2009 |title=Nobel winner Seamus Heaney recalls secret visit from Bill Clinton: President visit to Heaney's hospital bed after near-fatal stroke |url=http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Nobel-winner-Seamus-Heaney-recalls-secret-visit-from-Bill-Clinton-51137272.html |access-date=19 July 2009 |work=Irish Central}}</ref>

Heaney's ''[[District and Circle]]'' won the 2006 [[T. S. Eliot Prize]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 January 2007 |title=Heaney wins TS Eliot poetry prize |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6264699.stm |access-date=15 January 2007 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> In 2008, he became artist of honour in [[Østermarie]], Denmark, and Seamus Heaney Stræde (street) was named after him. In 2009, Heaney was presented with an Honorary-Life Membership award from the [[University College Dublin]] (UCD) Law Society, in recognition of his remarkable role as a literary figure.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Announcement of Awards |url=http://www.ucd.ie/studyatucd/studentexperience/studentlife/index.html |publisher=University College Dublin}}</ref>

[[Faber and Faber]] published [[Dennis O'Driscoll]]'s book ''[[Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney]]'' in 2008; this has been described as the nearest thing to an autobiography of Heaney.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Estate of Seamus Heaney-Stepping Stones |url=https://www.seamusheaney.com/stepping-stones |access-date=31 December 2021 |website=seamusheaney.com}}</ref> In 2009, Heaney was awarded the [[David Cohen Prize]] for Literature. He recorded a [[Seamus Heaney Collected Poems|spoken word album, over 12 hours long]], of himself reading his poetry collections to commemorate his 70th birthday, which occurred on 13 April 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 April 2009 |title=Collected Poems: Seamus Heaney |url=http://www.faber.co.uk/work/collected-poems/9780571247073/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504111822/http://www.faber.co.uk/work/collected-poems/9780571247073/ |archive-date=4 May 2010 |access-date=24 April 2010 |work=Faber and Faber}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 2009 |title=Heaney at 70 |url=http://www.rte.ie/heaneyat70/index.html |access-date=25 April 2010 |work=RTÉ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 2009 |title=Seamus Heaney 70th birthday commemorative Irish Times supplement |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/indepth/seamus-heaney/ |access-date=24 April 2010 |work=The Irish Times}}</ref>

===2010s===
He spoke at the [[Féile an Phobail|West Belfast Festival]] in July 2010 in celebration of his mentor, the poet and novelist [[Michael McLaverty]], who had helped Heaney to first publish his poetry.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Féile an Phobail, Festival of the People, 2010 programme |url=http://www.feilebelfast.com/news/august-feile-2010-programme-online/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823030106/http://www.feilebelfast.com/news/august-feile-2010-programme-online/ |archive-date=23 August 2010 |access-date=12 July 2010 |work=Official website}} Archived at Wayback Engine.</ref>

In September 2010 Faber published ''[[Human Chain (poetry collection)|Human Chain]]'', Heaney's twelfth collection. ''Human Chain'' was awarded the [[Forward Prize|Forward Poetry Prize]] for Best Collection, one of the major poetry prizes Heaney had never previously won, despite having been twice shortlisted.<ref name="benedicte_page_forward_prize">{{Cite news |last=Page |first=Benedicte |date=6 October 2010 |title=Seamus Heaney wins £10k Forward poetry prize for Human Chain |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/06/seamus-heaney-forward-poetry-prize?INTCMP=SRCH |access-date=6 October 2010 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kellaway |first=Kate |date=22 August 2010 |title=Human Chain by Seamus Heaney |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/aug/22/seamus-heaney-human-chain-faber?INTCMP=SRCH |access-date=22 August 2010 |work=The Observer}}</ref> The book, published 44 years after the poet's first, was inspired in part by Heaney's stroke in 2006, which left him "babyish" and "on the brink". Poet and Forward judge [[Ruth Padel]] described the work as "a collection of painful, honest and delicately weighted poems ... a wonderful and humane achievement."<ref name=benedicte_page_forward_prize/> Writer [[Colm Tóibín]] described ''Human Chain'' as "his best single volume for many years, and one that contains some of the best poems he has written... is a book of shades and memories, of things whispered, of journeys into the underworld, of elegies and translations, of echoes and silences."<ref name="toibin_human_chain">{{Cite news |last=Tóibín |first=Colm |author-link=Colm Tóibín |date=21 August 2010 |title=Human Chain by Seamus Heaney – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/aug/21/seamus-heaney-human-chain-review |access-date=21 August 2010 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> In October 2010, the collection was shortlisted for the [[T. S. Eliot Prize]].

Heaney was named one of "Britain's top 300 intellectuals" by ''[[The Observer]]'' in 2011, though the newspaper later published a correction acknowledging that "several individuals who would not claim to be British" had been featured, of which Heaney was one.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Naughton |first=John |date=8 May 2011 |title=Britain's top 300 intellectuals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/may/08/top-300-british-intellectuals |access-date=8 May 2011 |work=The Observer}}</ref> That same year,<!-- 2011 --> he contributed translations of [[Old Irish]] [[marginalia]] for ''[[Songs of the Scribe]]'', an album by Traditional Singer in Residence of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry, [[Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin]].<ref>[http://journalofmusic.com/radar/songs-scribe-sung-padraigin-ni-uallachain "Songs of the Scribe Sung by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin"]. ''Journal of Music''. 6 December 2011.</ref>

In December 2011 Heaney donated his personal literary notes to the [[National Library of Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Telford |first=Lyndsey |date=21 December 2011 |title=Seamus Heaney declutters home and donates personal notes to National Library |url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/arts/seamus-heaney-declutters-home-and-donates-personal-notes-to-national-library-2970392.html |access-date=21 December 2011 |work=Irish Independent}}</ref> Even though he admitted he would likely have earned a fortune by auctioning them, Heaney personally packed up the boxes of notes and drafts and, accompanied by his son Michael, delivered them to the National Library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Madden |first=Anne |date=22 December 2011 |title=Seamus Heaney's papers go to Dublin, but we don't mind, insists QUB |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/seamus-heaneys-papers-go-to-dublin-but-we-dont-mind-insists-qub-28694856.html |access-date=22 December 2011 |work=Belfast Telegraph}}</ref>

In June 2012 Heaney accepted the [[Griffin Poetry Prize|Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry's Lifetime Recognition Award]] and gave a speech in honour of the award.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prize |first=Griffin Poetry |date=7 June 2012 |title=2012 – Seamus Heaney |url=http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/awards-and-poets/lifetime-recognition-award/2012-seamus-heaney/ |access-date=1 September 2013 |work=Griffin Poetry Prize}}</ref>

Heaney was compiling a collection of his work in anticipation of ''Selected Poems 1988–2013'' at the time of his death. The selection includes poems and writings from ''Seeing Things'', ''The Spirit Level'', the translation of ''[[Beowulf: A New Verse Translation|Beowulf]]'', ''Electric Light'', ''District and Circle'', and ''Human Chain'' (fall 2014).

In February 2014 [[Emory University]] premiered ''Seamus Heaney: The Music of What Happens'', the first major exhibition to celebrate the life and work of Seamus Heaney since his death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seamus Heaney: The Music of What Happens |url=http://web.library.emory.edu/news-events/exhibitions/seamus-heaney-the-music-of-what-happens.html |website=Emory Library}}</ref> The exhibit holds a display of the surface of Heaney's personal writing desk that he used in the 1980s as well as old photographs and personal correspondence with other writers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seamus Heaney: The Music of What Happens |url=http://www.atlantaplanit.com/events/event.php?eid=55136 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101707/http://www.atlantaplanit.com/events/event.php?eid=55136 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=15 April 2015}}</ref>
Heaney died in August 2013 during the curatorial process of the exhibition. Though the exhibit's original vision to celebrate Heaney's life and work remains at the forefront, there is a small section commemorating his death and its influence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 January 2014 |title=Woodruff Library Welcomes Seamus Heaney Exhibit |url=https://emorywheel.com/woodruff-library-welcomes-seamus-heaney-exhibit/}}</ref>

In September 2015 it was announced that Heaney's family would posthumously publish his translation of Book VI of ''[[The Aeneid]]'' in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alison Flood |date=10 September 2015 |title=New Seamus Heaney translation to be published next year |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/10/new-seamus-heaney-translation-to-be-published-next-year |website=The Guardian}}</ref>