Faber to publish Seamus Heaney collection

Faber will publish The Poems of Seamus Heaney in October 2025, including previously unpublished material.

The collection has been edited by Rosie Lavan and Bernard O’Donoghue, with former Faber Poetry editor Matthew Hollis.

Hollis acquired world rights excluding US for the book from Heaney’s Estate and it passed on to Faber editor Lavinia Greenlaw following Hollis’ departure in 2023.

“This is the long-awaited, definitive edition of Seamus Heaney’s poetry, featuring a number of previously unpublished poems from the Nobel Prize-winning poet,” Faber said.

The Poems of Seamus Heaney encompasses all the poems Heaney published in his lifetime, as well as the small number that appeared after his death: 12 single volumes, from Death of a Naturalist (1966) to Human Chain (2010, both published by Faber), and those poems published in pamphlets, journals or magazines with limited circulation. In addition, the book includes a selection of previously unpublished material.

Faber said: “It is a body of work that, in its entirety, resounds with the ‘lyrical beauty and ethical depth’ cited by the Nobel committee: poems ‘which exalt everyday miracles and the living past’.

“Critical introductions to each collection and notes that illuminate the history and development of the poems make this the essential volume for admirers of Heaney’s work.

In advance of The Poems, Faber is also set to mark the 50th anniversary of North with a reissued edition of the collection in hardback on 19th June 2025, reproduced in its elegant original typeface and jacket.” 

Speaking on behalf of the family, Catherine Heaney said: “It would be hard to overstate the importance of this moment for our family: The Poems of Seamus Heaney marks the pinnacle of an exciting and ambitious publishing programme, undertaken with Faber over the past decade.

“This edition will allow readers to see the full arc of my father’s poetic life, with introductions and notes that illuminate each collection, as well as uncollected poems from throughout his career. We are indebted to our brilliant editors – Bernard O’Donoghue and Rosie Lavan, with Matthew Hollis – whose years of meticulous scholarly work have culminated in this magnificent volume. We couldn’t be more proud of it.”

Greenlaw said: “Seamus Heaney’s unparalleled career exemplifies what it means for a poet to keep testing truths from the personal to the global, the political to the metaphysical. Heaney was also dedicated to his art and we can see here how he continued to explore the possibilities of his craft to electrifying effect.

“We are delighted and proud to be presenting this long-awaited edition: a drawing together of a body of work that through its originality, vitality and power to move us, continues to exert the most profound influence.”

Heaney died in 2013 aged 74.