Michael George Longley (27 July 1939 – 22 January 2025) was a Northern Irish poet. In his later years Longley observed: "It's a mystery where poems come from. If I knew where poems came from I would go there ... When I write a poem I am moving into unknown territory and hoping to be surprised by some kind of redemptive eloquence to cast light into dark corners". Following his death, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, called Longley "a peerless poet".

Life and career

The elder of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland, to parents Richard and Connie (née Longworth) from London; he had an elder sister, Wendy. Longley was educated at RBAI and subsequently read

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, where he edited '' Icarus''. He was the Ireland Professor of Poetry from 2007 to 2010, a cross-border academic post set up in 1998, previously held by John Montague, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Paul Durcan. He was succeeded in 2010 by Harry Clifton. After teaching for several years in Dublin, London and Belfast, he was a director of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland 1970 to 1991. He was part of the Belfast Group of poets that included

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

with whom he became close friends, Derek Mahon and Paul Muldoon. His wife, Edna, is a critic on modern Irish and British poetry. They had three children, Rebecca, Daniel and

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

. An atheist, Longley described himself as a "sentimental" disbeliever. In 1994, Longley wrote his most famous poem, "Ceasefire". Composed in hope of a ceasefire between the IRA and loyalist forces, it was released only one day before one came about. The poem adapts a famous scene from the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', where King Priam begs for the body of his son back from the warrior

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

In October 2002, Longley opposed a decision by

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

to end the teaching of Classics and urged the university's senate to take action. Citing

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

's recent troubled past, he asked: "Who can bring peace to people who are not civilised?" On 14 January 2014, he participated in the

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

series ''The Essay – Letters to a Young Poet''. Taking

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

's classic text '' Letters to a Young Poet'' as inspiration, leading poets wrote a letter to a protege. Longley provided readings of his poetry for th
Irish Poetry Reading Archive (UCD)
His twin brother, Peter, died in 2013/14. Longley dedicated the second half of ''The Stairwell'' (2014), his tenth collection, to him. Over 50 years, he spent much time in Carrigskeewaun, County Mayo, which inspired much of his poetry. Longley died of complications from hip surgery on 22 January 2025, at the age of 85. His funeral took place at All Souls Church, Belfast, on 1 February 2025. During the service mourners, including President Michael D. Higgins, were told that he had entered "people's consciousness".

List of works

Poetry: Main Collections

* 1969: ''No Continuing City'', London: Macmillan: New York: Dufour Editions * 1973: ''An Exploded View'', London: Victor Gollancz * 1976: ''Man Lying on a Wall'', London: Victor Gollancz; New York: Transatlantic Arts (1977) * 1979: ''The Echo Gate'', London: Secker & Warburg; New York: Random House * 1991: ''Gorse Fires'', London: Secker & Warburg; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 1995: ''The Ghost Orchid'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press (1996) * 2000: '' The Weather in Japan'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 2004: ''Snow Water'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 2011: ''A Hundred Doors'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 2014: ''The Stairwell'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 2017: ''Angel Hill'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 2020: ''The Candlelight Master'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 2022: ''The Slain Birds'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press

Poetry: Selected Editions

* 1981: ''Selected Poems 1963–1980'', Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press * 1985: ''Poems 1963–1983'', Edinburgh: Salamander Press; Dublin: Gallery Press; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press (1987) * 1998: ''Selected Poems'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press (1999) * 2006: ''Collected Poems'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press (2007) * 2024: ''Ash Keys: New Selected Poems'', London: Jonathan Cape; Winston-Salem, USA: Wake Forest University Press

Limited Editions and Booklets (poetry and prose)

* 1965: ''Ten Poems'', Belfast: Festival Publications * 1968: ''Secret Marriages'', Manchester: Phoenix Press * 1972: ''Lares'', Woodford Green, London: Poet & Printer * 1975: ''Fishing in the Sky: Love Poems'', London: Poet & Printer * 1981: ''Patchwork'', Dublin: The Gallery Press * 1993: ''Baucis and Philemon: After Ovid'', London: Poet & Printer * 1994: ''Birds and Flowers: Poems'', Edinburgh: Morning Star * 1994: ''Tuppeny Stung: Autobiographical Chapters'', Belfast: Lagan Press * 1997: ''Ship of the Wind'', Dublin: Poetry Ireland * 1998: ''Broken Dishes'', Newry, Northern Ireland: Abbey Press * 1999: ''Out of the Cold'', Newry, Northern Ireland: Abbey Press * 2003: ''Cenotaph of Snow: Sixty Poems About War'', London: Enitharmon Press * 2005: ''The Rope-Makers'', London: Enitharmon Press * 2008: ''A Jovial Hullabaloo'', London: Enitharmon Press * 2015: ''One Wide Expanse'', Dublin: University College Dublin Press * 2015: ''Sea Asters'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry * 2016: ''The Dipper's Range'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry * 2016: ''Twelve Poems'', Thame, Oxford: Clutag Press * 2017: ''Songs for Dead Children: Poetry in Violent Times'', London:

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

* 2017
''Sidelines: Selected Prose''
London: Enitharmon Press * 2019: ''Ghetto'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry * 2020: ''Homer's Octopus'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry * 2022: ''Metamorphoses'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry * 2022: ''Canticle'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry * 2024: ''Birds & Flowers'', Rochdale, UK: Andrew J Moorhouse, Fine Press Poetry North American editions of Longley's work are published by Wake Forest University Press.

Awards and Honours

''Gorse Fires'' (1991) won the Whitbread Poetry Prize. ''The Weather in Japan'' (2000) won the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Hawthornden Prize. It also brought him the inaugural Yakamochi Medal in 2018. He received honorary doctorates from Queen's (1995) and Trinity (1999) and was the 2001 recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. Longley was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. Longley won a 2011 London Awards for Art and Performance. His collection ''A Hundred Doors'' won the Poetry Now Award in September 2012. His 2014 collection, ''The Stairwell'', won the 2015 International Griffin Poetry Prize. In 2015, he received the '' Ulster Tatler'' Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize in 2017. The Chair of the judges, Don Paterson, said: "For decades now his effortlessly lyric and fluent poetry has been wholly suffused with the qualities of humanity, humility and compassion, never shying away from the moral complexity that comes from seeing both sides of an argument." In 2015 Longley was elected a Freeman of the City of Belfast. In 2018, he was made an honorary fellow of Trinity. He was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

and the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts. In autumn 2021, the School of English at Queen's University opened the Longley Room to honour the poet and his wife. The university also established the Michael Longley scholarship fund, offering two scholarships each year to poetry students of particular merit.Patricia Craig
'Michael Longley obituary'
''The Guardian'', 23 January 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025

References

External links

Poet Michael Longley remembered: interviews from the RTÉ archives
* (contains a "Critical Perspective" section)
Video readings in the Irish Poetry Reading ArchiveUCD Digital LibraryUniversity College Dublin
*
Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery

Poetry archive profile and poems written and audio

Ulster Museum portrait

Audio interview by Krista Tippett

Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Michael Longley papers, 1960-2000
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longley, Michael 1939 births 2025 deaths 20th-century British male writers 20th-century poets from Northern Ireland 20th-century writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British poets 21st-century poets from Northern Ireland 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Aosdána members Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize recipients Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Costa Book Award winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Male poets from Northern Ireland Male writers from Northern Ireland T. S. Eliot Prize winners Writers from Belfast