Seamus Heaney wins £40,000 David Cohen prize for literature
Irish poet is recognised for the 'sheer scale' of his literary achievements over past 40 years
Alison Flood writing in the guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 March 2009

'Venerated public figure': Irish poet Seamus Heaney. Photograph: Felix Clay

Irish poet Seamus Heaney was recognised for the "sheer scale" of his literary achievements with the £40,000 David Cohen prize this evening.

His fellow poet and chair of the award's judges, poet laureate Andrew Motion, honoured Heaney for a body of poetry that over the past 40 years has "crystallised the story of our times, in language which has bravely and memorably continued to extend its imaginative reach", and for his critical writing, his translations and his lecturing, which "have invigorated the whole wider world of poetry".

The prize, one of the most prestigious honours for living British writers, has been won in the past by Heaney's fellow Nobel laureates VS Naipaul and Harold Pinter. It is awarded biennially for a lifetime's excellence in literature. The prize is unusual in that the winner receives a further £12,500 to be donated either to a literature organisation that supports young writers, or to an individual writer under the age of 35. Heaney chose to give the £12,500 to an annual poetry speaking competition open to all post-primary students in Ireland, Poetry Aloud.

On receiving his prize this evening at a ceremony at the British Library, Heaney said the award was "highly honorific". "First of all there's the list of the previous winners, a roll call of the best; there's the fact that you don't enter for it but are chosen from the wide field of your contemporaries; and then there's the verification of that reference to 'lifetime achievement'", he said, calling it "a lovely reward when offered by a panel of such distinguished writers and readers".

Read Alison Flood's full report on the presentation at the Guardian online.