A Fax from Seamus Heaney, by Denis Tuohy
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What is the story behind the handwritten fax from Seamus Heaney?
There is a framed fax message in my living room, which I understandably treasure. It's a handwritten thank you from one of the twentieth century's finest poets. In the autumn of nineteen ninety five I had faxed Seamus Heaney. To congratulate him on having won the Nobel Prize in Literature. His reply is both generous and intriguing. What a pleasure to hear from one's earliest editor. The fact is that I was a few years ahead of Seamus at Queen's University Belfast, and in my final year in nineteen fifty eight, I was editor of the literary magazine Q. Other undergraduates, including many I didn't know, submitted poems and articles to Quite a few of which, including one from someone called Eni.
How did Denis Tuohy first encounter Seamus Heaney as a young reporter?
I rejected the It was several years later, by which time I was a reporter with the BBC in Belfast. That I became aware of a new local poet who was getting more and more attention. His name was Mr. Seamus Heaney. Oh yes. Oh dear. I had indeed been his earliest editor. And although I couldn't remember the poem.
Why did Tuohy reject Heaney’s poem for the Queen’s University magazine Q?
I knew I had said no. There was a pub close to BBC headquarters that was much favoured in the sixties by broadcasters, actors, and writers. It was there that I first met Seamus face to face. We had a congenial chat about many things, but But he made no reference to Q magazine. And I certainly didn't. Another ten years and more were to go by before the secret of what had happened or not happened at Queen's would be publicly revealed. In nineteen seventy six I was presenter of a nightly BBC TV programme in London.
What happened when Tuohy interviewed the Nobel‑winning poet on his BBC programme?
That year Seamus won the WH Smith Award for North, a collection of poems that explored themes connected with and predating the troubles in Northern Ireland. He was invited to be interviewed on the programme. By myself. We talked, of course, about his work about style and substance, but But also about his growing up in County Derry. A county I also knew, having lived part of my childhood in Derry City. It was probably some deep down sense of shame instilled by the Christian brothers in my dairy school days that prompted my live on screen confession. You won't have forgotten, Seamus, that I was the editor who rejected the poem you submitted to the Queen's University magazine Q He smiled and nodded.
What is the significance of the Latin pseudonym “Curtior” in Heaney’s signed copy of *North*?
Of course I remember, but I also remember that it wasn't a particularly well formed piece of work. I had to smile back. He wasn't going to let me wallow in my shame. After the interview he signed my copy of North, his WH Smith prize winning collection. Even as a prize winner, he included the pseudonym he had used in earlier days, the Latin word in Curtis, meaning in Uncertain, unsure of oneself, And below the word he had added a comment. The old pseudonym lies there like a mouldering tegument. The word in Curtis was to breathe again nearly twenty years later.
How does Heaney’s reply to Tuohy’s Nobel‑congratulations reflect their shared history?
It was in his memorable reply to my facts congratulating him on winning the Nobel Prize. It wasn't just that he called me his earliest editor. An editor who had in fact rejected his work had He signed with a word that is connected with the old pseudonym, but is crucially different from Incurtous means uncertain, unsure. Yours ever, he wrote,
and
now you Curti or The Latin word curtior means more certain. More sure. A man who had just won the Nobel Prize in Literature was had every right to use it.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the story behind the handwritten fax from Seamus Heaney?
0:00–0:55
2
How did Denis Tuohy first encounter Seamus Heaney as a young reporter?
0:55–1:23
3
Why did Tuohy reject Heaney’s poem for the Queen’s University magazine Q?
1:23–2:06
4
What happened when Tuohy interviewed the Nobel‑winning poet on his BBC programme?
2:06–3:02
5
What is the significance of the Latin pseudonym “Curtior” in Heaney’s signed copy of *North*?
3:02–3:47
6
How does Heaney’s reply to Tuohy’s Nobel‑congratulations reflect their shared history?
3:47–4:32