'The Giant at my Shoulder' | Seamus Heaney & Czesław Miłosz
“But when you think of Miłosz you think of the mark made on him by event rather than any need on his part to make an event of himself.”
In an Irish radio interview, Heaney declared Czeslaw Milosz his ‘hero,’ nominating him as ‘the giant at my shoulder’ and, in Stepping Stones, admitted that he ‘was always a bit in awe of him.’
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980, Milosz ranks among the most respected figures in 20th-century literature, as well as one of the most respected contemporary poets in the world. Like Heaney, his poetry affirmed the value of human life, drawing inspiration from having lived through some of the great upheavals of 20th-century Eastern Europe and, as Heaney puts it, making ‘his soul...by writing his way out of that state of affairs.’
From source of inspiration to a respected friend, join us Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again Saturday 27th June for a special talk exploring Miłosz’s remarkable life, important literary works and his inspiring relationship with Seamus Heaney.
