An evening in mayo with michael longley

Ballina Arts Centre presents poet Michael Longley in a special reading of some of his ‘Mayo poems’ this weekend (Saturday, February 21) at 8 p.m.

Michael 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 which ensures his importance in the continued evolution of that landscape.

Michael 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, Longley has been regular visitor to west Co. 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. Tickets cost €15/€12 and booking is advised on (096) 73593.