Harry Clifton - Ireland Professor of Poetry

The art of poetry made the front pages in Ireland recently as Dublin poet, Harry Clifton was awarded the title of Ireland Professor of Poetry for the next three years. The awarding of such a position may seem a small matter nationally and internationally, but if you consider some of the past poets of Ireland whom he now represents - Yeats, Kavanagh, Wilde, Joyce - he certainly has considerable responsibility. However, raising the profile of contemporary poetry will probably be his biggest challenge. The main aim of the position is to help maintain the value of poetry in Irish culture, both at home and abroad. One of the trustees of the position, Seamus Heaney is a Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Harry is in good company!