Ben Whishaw to Read THE TRANSLATIONS OF SEAMUS HEANEY at 92NY
Whishaw will read excerpts from Beowulf and Virgil’s The Aeneid, and more.
Acclaimed actor Ben Whishaw will visit 92NY's Unterberg Poetry Center on Wednesday, May 3 at 7:30 pm to deliver a dramatic reading of literary classics and poems translated over the years by the late, great Irish poet Seamus Heaney, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.
The works that Whishaw will read - including excerpts from Beowulf and Virgil's The Aeneid - are published in the new book, The Translations of Seamus Heaney, edited by Marco Sonzogni. Whishaw's script, which has been created by award-winning novelist Colm Tóibín, will also feature excerpts from the introductions and commentaries that Heaney often wrote to accompany his translations.
Seamus Heaney translated not only classic works of Latin and Old English, but also a great number of poems from Spanish, Romanian, Dutch, Russian, German, Scottish Gaelic, Czech, Ancient and Modern Greek, Middle and Modern French, and Medieval and Modern Italian, among other languages. In particular, he engaged with works in Old, Middle and Modern Irish, the languages of his homeland and early education.
Heaney's translation of Beowulf (1999) has been hailed as a masterpiece, "something imperishable and great" (James Wood), and his translation of Virgil's Aeneid Book VI (2016) provided "a remarkable and fitting epilogue to one of the great poetic careers of recent times" (Nick Laird).
"His books were events in our lives, monuments," wrote Tóibín, upon Heaney's death in 2013. "He was not merely a central figure in the literary life of Ireland, but in its emotional life, in its dream life, in its real life. His skill at playing with rhythm, pushing phrases and images as hard as they will go, offered the poems an undertone, a gravity-a space between the words that allowed them to soar or shiver."
Ben Whishaw has starred in several critically-acclaimed films and television series, including No Time to Die, Women Talking, Paddington, The Lobster, A Very English Scandal, The Personal History of David Copperfield and Mary Poppins Returns, among others.
About The 92nd Street Y, New York:
The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92NY offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y, New York is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92NY's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92NY.org.
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