It is entirely appropriate that the centre dedicated to Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney is to celebrate the legacy of two other Irish literary giants, Patrick Kavanagh and Michael McLaverty.
The acclaimed short story writer Mr McLaverty, when he was principal of St Thomas’s School in west Belfast in the 1960s, recruited Mr Heaney, who died in 2013, as a member of the teaching staff and introduced him to the poetry of Mr Kavanagh.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Mr McLaverty’s death, with Mr Kavanagh passing away 50 years ago, and they will be remembered through readings, lectures and other events as part of the Autumn programme at the Heaney HomePlace in Co Derry.
It is fitting that the Bellaghy complex, which opened last year, is to be the venue for an initiative designed to consider the close links between three figures of enormous importance.
