Michael Longley
Northern Irish poet (1939-2025) · United Kingdom · On the map · Writers · Died at 85
Michael George Longley was a Northern Irish poet. In his later years Longley observed: "It's a mystery where poems come from. If I knew where poems came from I would go there ...
Michael Longley is read about 24 times a day, in 13 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 21 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
2025Died22 January 20252017PEN Pinter PrizeAward2014Griffin Poetry PrizeAward2010Commander of the Order of the British EmpireAward2004Honorary DoctorateAwardLibrex Montale PrizeAward2001King’s / Queen’s Gold Medal for PoetryAward2000Hawthornden PrizeAwardT. S. Eliot PrizeAward1991Cholmondeley AwardAwardCosta Book Award for PoetryAward1988Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureAward1966Eric Gregory AwardAward1939Born27 July 1939
Media & music
Awards
About this person
When I write a poem I am moving into unknown territory and hoping to be surprised by some kind of redemptive eloquence to cast light into dark corners". Following his death, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, called Longley "a peerless poet".
Country
United Kingdom
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1939 to 2025 · aged 85
