Belfast Group
TheBelfast Groupwas a poets' workshop which was organized byPhilip Hobsbaumwhen he moved toBelfastin October1963to lecture in English atQueen's University.
As with Hobsbaum's earlier discussion group inLondon,known asThe Group,the meetings commenced with the discussion of a single poet's work. After a break for coffee and biscuits, there was an open session in which participants could read any work they wished to. The group met once a week, initially on Tuesday evenings at 8:00pm, later on Monday evenings. During term time it met at No. 4 Fitzwilliam Street, Philip and Hannah Hobsbaum's home near the university.
Seamus Heaneyattended group meetings from the start. Seven of the poems in Heaney'sEleven Poems(November1965) were taken from his 'group sheets'. Heaney has said that the group "ratified the idea of writing".Michael Longleystarted attending after his return to Belfast in1964.He has said that the group gave "an air of seriousness and electricity to the notion of writing", and that he was "surprised by the ferocity of Hobsbaum's attack". Other participants over the years included:James Simmons,Paul Muldoon,Ciarán Carson,Stewart Parker,Bernard MacLaverty,Frank Ormsbyand the criticsEdna LongleyandMichael Allen.Louis Muinzer, the translator and theatre director was also a member of the group.
In1965and1966,theBelfast Festival at Queen'spublished pamphlets by some of the members of the group, including Heaney, Longley, and this attracted a certain amount of publicity. After Hobsbaum's departure for Glasgow in1966,the Group lapsed for a while, but then was reconstituted in1968by Michael Allen, Arthur Terry, and Heaney. Meetings were held at Seamus and Marie Heaney's house on Ashley Avenue. May1968saw the first issue ofThe Honest Ulsterman,edited by James Simmons.
The Belfast Group ceased to exist in1972.
Sources[edit]
- 'The Belfast Group: A Symposium':The Honest Ulsterman,No. 53 (Nov/Dec 1976)
- The Cambridge Companion to Contemporary Irish Poetry, Cambridge University Press, 2003
External links[edit]
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