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Oxford College Library Exhibits - Past and Present

Seamus Heaney: The Music of What Happens

This installation opened in 2015 and was derived from the original 2014 exhibition at Emory University's Robert W. Woodruff Library.  It was the first major exhibition to celebrate the life and work of late Irish poet and Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney since his death.  The exhibit at Oxford College Library featured manuscripts, personal letters and photographs, and the actual old desk where Heaney wrote some of his celebrated poems.  Among the evocative materials on display--most of them from the Heaney collection held by The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library--were Heaney's poems and drafts showing his handwritten revisions, rare publications, and artists' books containing Heaney's poetry. The exhibit also featured recordings of his poetry read by Heaney himself and by other poets, artists, and well-known figures.