“He’s not averse to symbolising the process of poetry”

The BBC report on the presentation of the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in literature to Seamus Heaney includes an audio clip of an interview on Radio 4’s Front Row – more Heaney interviews here. The Guardian adds the detail of the two poems Heaney chose to represent his body of work – The Underground and A Drink of Water. There’s the river in the trees.. Meanwhile, John Sutherland asks £40,000? Is that all? Although it should be noted that there was the additional £12,500 Clarissa Luard Award given, at Seamus Heaney’s discretion, to Poetry Aloud!

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