New Yorker's Best Books of 2013

The New Yorker asked its critics to pick the best 3 or 4 books they read this year (not necessarily new books). Part one of the list appeared December 10th.

Among the books by past visitors to the Writers Institute who appear on the various lists so far are Seeing Things by the late Seamus Heaney (pictured here), Metaphysical Dog by Frank Bidart, Stay, Illusion by Lucie Brock-Broido, Chasing Utopia by Nikki Giovanni, My Education by Susan Choi and A Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks.

Article in the New Yorker:  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/12/best-books-of-2013-part-one.html

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"A Great Day for the Irish," Seamus Heaney Visits Albany

Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and Nobel Laureate who passed away today, visited the Writers Institute in 1985, the second year of our existence.

The late Tom Smith proclaimed it "a great day for the Irish" and "a great night for poetry."

Here are links to audio files from that visit, with an introduction by UAlbany Irish literature professor (now emeritus) William Dumbleton.

http://luna.albany.edu/luna/servlet/view/search?QuickSearchA=QuickSearchA&q=Seamus+Heaney&sort=Archive_Collection%2CAuthor_Name%2CAuthor_Name_2%2CAuthor_Name_3&search=Search

Here's an obituary for Seamus Heaney in the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/family-says-irish-poet-and-nobel-winner-seamus-heaney-dies-at-74/2013/08/30/a5f38506-1162-11e3-a2b3-5e107edf9897_story.html

Explore the riches of our archive on the UAlbany Luna platform here;
http://luna.albany.edu/luna/servlet/UALBANYSCA~16~16

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Seamus Heaney, Irish Poet, Dies

Seamus Heaney, who visited the Writers Institute in 1985, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, died in Dublin today.

More in the New York Times: 

Mr. Heaney, who was born in Northern Ireland but moved to Dublin in his later years, is recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century. His fellow poet Robert Lowell described Mr. Heaney as the “most important Irish poet since Yeats.”
      

In a statement, Faber & Faber, which published his work for nearly 50 years, called him “one of the world’s greatest writers. His impact on literary culture is immeasurable.”

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/arts/seamus-heaney-acclaimed-irish-poet-dies-at-74.html?_r=0

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The Hungry Ear: Kevin Young

Poet Kevin Young, who visited us in 2005, is making news with his new book on poetry and food:

"It delivers such a groaning board of things to love, from Seamus Heaney on oysters and Lucille Clifton on collard greens to Theodore Roethke on root cellars and Jane Kenyon on shopping at an IGA."

More:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/books/the-hungry-ear-poems-of-food-drink-kevin-young-editor.html

More on Young's 2005 visit to Albany:
http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/young_kevin.html

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