About the Author

Richard Rankin Russell is Professor of English and Graduate Program Director in the English department at Baylor University. His books include Seamus Heaney: An Introduction (Edinburgh, 2016); Seamus Heaney's Regions (Notre Dame, 2014, Robert Penn Warren/Cleanth Brooks Award for literary criticism, Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award Finalist--History); Modernity, Community, and Place in Brian Friel's Drama (Syracuse, 2014); Bernard MacLaverty: New Critical Readings (Bloomsbury, 2013); Peter Fallon: Poet, Publisher, Editor, and Translator (Irish Academic Press, 2013); Poetry and Peace: Michael Longley, Seamus Heaney, and Northern Ireland (Notre Dame, 2010); Bernard MacLaverty (Bucknell, 2009) and Martin McDonagh: A Casebook (Routledge, 2007).

Reviews

"Russell's Introduction is laudable in its many achievements. Engaging, jargon-free, and well researched, it will be of great help to many students looking to get a clear and comprehensive view of the poet's career and poetry. Russell is clearly an astute reader of poetry, and his close readings are particularly enjoyable. The strength of Seamus Heaney: An Introduction. . .resides in its remarkable balance between the wealth of knowledge and details on the one hand, and the clarity of its presentation, argument, and style on the other. Russell's great admiration for the poet and enthusiasm for his object of study suffuse his writing with energy, making the volume eminently readable, as well as informative." --Florence Impens "Irish University Review "

"This is a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide, but its particular strengths lie in its analyses of work from the extremes of Heaney's career. Russell is enlighteningly detailed about Heaney's recollections of his own early self; he is also among the first scholars to provide careful, knowledgeable readings of the last poems. Although this is an introduction, and perhaps aimed at undergraduate students, it is no mere compendium of existing interpretations. Because of Russell's deep familiarity with out-of-the-way interviews and archival material, there is plenty of fresh food for thought here."--Adam Hanna "Year's Work in English Studies "

Those just embarking on a study of the poetry of Heaney could find no more capable or enthusiastic guide than Russell, who is an astute reader of individual poems, yet one who strikes a balance between close reading and tracing the sweep of Heaney's poetry.--ASHBY BLAND CROWDER "New Hibernia Review, Volume 20, Number 4 "