Today, in our poetry news roundup, we bring you the sad news that the poet Michael Longley has died at the age of 85.

Prize-winning Poet Michael Longley Dies Aged 85

Michael Longley, the Northern Irish poet, who was described by Seamus Heaney as

has passed away aged 85. He died on Wednesday due to complications arising from a hip operation. His death was confirmed by his longstanding editor, who said it had been

The writer who was a winner of the TS Eliot Prize in 2000 with his collection “The Weather in Japan” was considered one of the Northern Irish Poetry triumvirate and the last surviving member of the group. Alongside his friends Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon, he was part of a group of young Irish writers that included the likes of Paul Muldoon and Ciaran Carson. The three friends all published their debut poetry collections in the 1960s and then went on to become major international poets.

Longley was born in 1939 in Belfast. He had a twin brother who went on to become a marine engineer who died a decade ago. This event inspired the later part of the poet’s 2014 collection which was titled “The Stairwell”. He studied at Trinity College Dublin, and that was when he came to the realisation that he wanted to write poetry, although he said he may have briefly considered teaching or a career in the civil service. His first poetry was “splurges of emotion” which eventually he took one of and tried to turn into a sonnet.

His first poetry collection was published in 1965 and whilst he was working on this short collection of just 10 poems he also worked for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland as the combined arts director for several years.

His most famous poem was “Ceasefire” which he wrote in 1994 hoping for an end to the Troubles. A Ceasefire was announced the day after the poem was published.

Over the years, Longley won a number of prizes for his writing, including a 1991 Whitbread prize for “Gorse Fires”, a CBE in 2010 and in 2022, the Feltrinelli International Poetry prize for lifetime achievement. He was also a PEN Pinter prize winner in 2017. This is an annual award given to a writer who in the words of Harold Pinter casts a gaze upon the world that is “unflinching, unswerving” gaze upon the earth. Longley’s work was described by the judges as being suffused with the qualities of humility, humanity and never shying away from moral complexity and having an ability to see both sides of an argument.

The poet married Edna Longley, a critic and academic, in 1964. In a documentary last year, he said that he always finished the writing of the poem with a dance before asking his wife for feedback, and nine times out of ten, she gave him good suggestions!

His most recent work was published in 2022 and was described as being “teemingly alive”.

Michael Longley is survived by his wife, Edna, and their three children.