Emory's Richard Ellmann lecture series honors memory of poet Seamus Heaney with acclaimed speakers

Literary history has been celebrated and made at Emory University in the prestigious Richard Ellmann lecture series, inaugurated in 1988.

The series has welcomed monumental literary figures including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Henry Louis Gates and David Lodge. The inaugural speaker was the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. The year 2024 marks the 10^th anniversary of his passing, and to honor his memory this year’s talks on March 3-5 will feature guest speakers acclaimed for their literary contributions and connection to Heaney – Natasha Trethewey and Fintan O’Toole.

In this interview, “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes speaks with Geraldine Higgins, an Emory University English professor, director of Irish studies, and director of the Richard Ellmann Lectures in Modern Literature.