Heaney Lectures - The Fire I' the Flint

The proceedings of the third Seamus Heaney Lecture Series – “The Fire I’ the Flint - Essays on the creative imagination”, edited by Dr Mary Shine Thompson, Dean of Research at St Patrick’s College – were launched on 25 May in the Unitarian Church, St Stephen’s Green, by the poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.  

Seamus Heaney delivered the inaugural lecture in the series and his essay ‘In a Mucker Fog’: Patrick Kavanagh’s Calling is one of ten in the collections. Other contributors are Jones Irwin (St Patrick’s College), Whither imagination after Postmodernism: On Heaney, Kavanagh and a Derelict Larkin; Alan Titley, (former Head, Roinn na Gaeilge, SPD, now Professor of Irish in UCC), The Lava of the Imagination and the Secret History of Words; Peter Michael Hamel (Hochschule fűr Musik und Theater, Hamburg), Musical Improvisation: Animation for a Flash of Inspiration; Susan M P McKenna-Lawlor (MD, Space Technology Ireland Ltd), Voyages at the Edge of Forever; Seymour Papert (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Fuelling the Fire of Creativity;  Kieran Egan (Simon Fraser University, British Columbia), Imagination and Education;  Patricia Flynn (Music Department, St Patrick’s College), Words and Music: A dialogue of maker and materials;  Ciarán Benson (Professor of Psychology, UCD), Afterword: The Creative ‘Subject’ of Imagination.  Beautifully produced by Four Courts Press, the  book also features a stunning visual essay by the artist Bridget Riley whose painting December 15, ’02 is reproduced on the jacket of the book. 

Launching the book, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, currently writer in residence at St Patrick’s College, emphasised the importance of fostering creativity among children and the role of story. Responding, Seamus Heaney spoke of his experience as a teacher and a teacher educator in two Colleges of Education.  He emphasised the importance of Colleges of Education and the distinctive and indispensable contribution of teacher education to the public good.  Teachers and teacher educators shape the imaginations of every child in the country, he said.

The launch was hosted by St Patrick’s College in association with Poetry Ireland and Four Courts Press.  The book is published by Four Courts Press – ISBN 978-1-84682-073-1

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: Tuesday May 26 2009