In 1966, Seamus Heaney published Death of a Naturalist, the collection that would launch his career and establish him firmly in the public eye as a poet of place whose local accents and autobiographical bent marked a new direction in twentieth century Irish poetry. In the same year, Heaney accepted a lectureship at his alma mater, Queen’s University Belfast, and made his first appearance on Ireland’s Late Late show, reading Blackberry Picking and gaining a mass audience thanks to the power of broadcast media. 

To mark this anniversary the Seamus Heaney Centre, in partnership with the National Library of Ireland, Emory Rose Library, and Queen’s University’s Special Collections, invites papers from archivists and academics interested in Heaney’s early career, first collection, and broadcast paratexts. The conference will take place at the SHC, in Belfast, 11 - 12 September 2026.

Themes and topics might include: Ireland in the 1960s; the Belfast Group; Heaney as pedagogue; voice and broadcast; creative networks; non-manuscript literary archives. This list is indicative only and other topics and themes are welcome.

We are particularly interested in papers that draw on archival resources and encourage participants to visit sites and sources as listed below. It is intended that materials from the conference will be collected as part of an edited collection for publication with an academic press. 

For further information about major Seamus Heaney archival collections:

· National Library of Ireland, Dublin (Seamus Heaney Literary Papers – including early drafts of all his poetry collections, and some of his prose writing).Contact Crónán Ó Doibhlin, codoibhlin@nli.ie.

· Emory University, Georgia, US (letters, poems, recordings of lectures, physical artefacts)

· Queen's University, Belfast - Seamus Heaney Centre (Broadcast archive of media appearances TV and Radio). Contact Patricia Malone, p.malone@qub.ac.uk.

· Queen's University, Belfast - Special Collections (Beowulf Manuscript collections and student notebooks). Contact Laura Caskey, l.caskey@qub.ac.uk.