Heaney graduated from Queens in 1961 with a First Class Honours in English language and literature.

[1] It was officially opened in February 2004 as "The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry", and its founding director was the poet and Queen's graduate Ciaran Carson.

[4] On 30 April 2009, it gave Heaney a 70th birthday party involving a literary evening.

[8] It is part of the Seamus Heaney Legacy Project funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.

The winner receives £5,000 and is invited to give the Tom Quinlan Lecture in Poetry at New York University with travel accommodation and a $1,000 honorarium included.