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In the nearly thirty years of his writing career the Irish poet Seamus Heaney has established himself as an enduring world writer. This book provides the fullest account yet of his early life as an Ulster Catholic and the experiences, influences, and relationships - personal, literary, and political - that shaped his poetic development and awareness in the midst of the complex and violent history that has formed modern Ireland. Michael Parker's extensive research includes a considerable amount of original material, such as photographs and interviews with Heaney and with many key personalities from his past and present. Parker presents fresh insights into the background and possible "sources" of Heaney's poems, commentaries on unpublished poems and drafts, and careful readings of each of the poet's collections up to and including the 1991 Seeing Things.