Trinity’s Rosie Lavan co-edits definitive collection of Seamus Heaney’s poetry

Posted on: 14 October 2025

The long-awaited publication of the definitive edition of Seamus Heaney’s poetry co-edited by Trinity’s Dr Rosie Lavan was celebrated at an event in Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy, last weekend.

Published by Faber and Faber, The Poems of Seamus Heaney contains all the poems Heaney published in his lifetime: twelve single volumes, from Death of a Naturalist (1966) to Human Chain (2010). It also includes the small number of poems that appeared after his death, and previously uncollected poems published in pamphlets, journals and magazines or with limited circulation.

In total, the book comprises over 700 poems, including 25 previously unpublished poems chosen by the poet’s family. Also included are critical introductions to each collection and notes that illuminate the history and development of the poems.

An expert in poetry and modern Irish and British literature, Dr Lavan has worked on the collection for almost 10 years with co-editors Bernard O’Donoghue, emeritus fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and Matthew Hollis, poet, editor and biographer.

Dr Rosie Lavan, Associate Professor, School of English, said: “It has been an honour and a joy to work on this book, from the many quiet hours spent in libraries finding and scrutinising hundreds of poems, to the long, lively conversations with my fellow editors as we discussed how to contextualise and illuminate those poems.

“In addition to the excitement of offering previously unpublished poems in this book, thanks to the generosity of the Heaney family, the 200-odd previously uncollected poems give us a newly comprehensive sense of just how prolific a writer Seamus Heaney was, and enables us to see the much-loved poems of his twelve published books in a new light.

“Seamus Heaney is not just a poet whose work commands serious scholarly attention, but one who is held in great affection by many readers, in Ireland, Britain, and around the world. Our task has been to try to communicate with all those readers, as well as – we hope – with many coming to his work for the first time.”

Previous publications by Dr Lavan include Seamus Heaney and Society published by Oxford in 2020. Her current research project is examining poetry, culture and social change in Ireland since the 1950s, and includes discussions of writers and artists including Eavan Boland, Padraic Fallon, Seamus Heaney, Edna O'Brien, Nell McCafferty, and the filmmaker Pat Collins. 

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