Nobel Prize winner, Seamus Heaney will give one of the first public readings of his new collection entitled Human Chain at the Bailey Allen Hall at NUI Galway on Tuesday September 7 at 8pm. The proceeds will go to Cancer Care West, the local cancer charity.
A celebrated poet, his many awards include the Nobel Prize for Literature 1995 and the Whitbread prize (twice ). He was made a Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1996 and most recently he was awarded the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
His new collection deals with human relationships, dependencies and solidarities - between parent and child, husband and wife, personal friends and the human family at large. It has poems about the bonds which these relationships create and the pain of loss when they are broken. It also celebrates the links between present and past which our cultural inheritance provides and several of the poems present the poet’s personal experience within this larger context.
Accompanying the 70-year-old Derry poet on the night will be Galway’s Ensemble in Residence Contempo Quartet, a leading string quartet which has won numerous international awards.
Tickets for the event, which includes a cheese and wine reception, cost €35 and it is advisable to book early. They are available from Zhivago, Shop Street and from Cancer Care West at (091 ) 545000 or from www.cancercarewest.ie Cancer Care West is a charity dedicated to supporting people whose lives have been affected by a cancer diagnosis. Its aim is to enhance patient care and wellbeing and to provide supports to cancer patients and their families during and after treatment. It does this through the provision of residential accommodation and support services to cancer patients from all the west of Ireland including counties Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, North Tipperary, Roscommon and Sligo.
Inis Aoibhinn, its 30-bedded residential facility on the grounds of University Hospital Galway, provides accommodation to patients receiving radiotherapy and their families. Opened in March 2007 it provides a home from home environment for many patients. It is operating at full capacity and Cancer Care West is currently fundraising for a 20 bed extension to meet increasing demand for these services.
The Cancer Support Centre at 72 Seamus Quirke Road is a community-driven initiative which offers a wide range of services. A five-day per week drop-in service is available whereby people can call in without an appointment. Individual appointments are available for clinical and psychological counselling; information on benefits and entitlements; reflexology and massage; and breast care fitting services.
A variety of courses are offered on topics including stress management, living with cancer, mindfulness, expressive art and expressive writing.
The centre also facilitates patient, carer and bereavement support groups. It hosts Breast Life and the Brain Tumour Support Group.
