Reading Michael Longley

This new study is the first full-length assessment of Michael Longley's work. It looks at all the major collections he has published over the past 40 years, and at the extraordinary growth of his reputation and influence. Fran Brearton's reading of Longley's work relates the development of his poetry to the recent literary and political history of Northern Ireland. She offers a broadly chronological reading of Longley's work from the 1960s to the present day, tracing thematic continuities across his collections.