Seán Hewitt

Seán Hewitt was born in Warrington, UK, to an Irish mother and English father.[3] He studied English at Girton College, Cambridge.[4][5]

Hewitt received his PhD, on the works of J. M. Synge, from the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool.[6] He lives in Dublin, where he lectures at Trinity College Dublin.[7]

Hewitt was awarded an Eric Gregory Award in 2019, and won the world's biggest ecopoetry award, the Resurgence Prize, in 2017.[8][9] He also received a Northern Writers' Award in 2016.[10] Hewitt was listed as one of The Sunday Times "30 under 30" artists in Ireland in 2020.[11] His debut collection of poems, Tongues of Fire, won The Laurel Prize in 2021. He was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2022.[12]

Hewitt's debut collection, Tongues of Fire, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2020.[13][14]

Tongues of Fire was released to critical acclaim.[15] It won The Laurel Prize in 2021,[16] and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, 2020, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, 2021, and the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer), 2021.[17][18][19] It was Poetry Book of the Month in The Observer,[20] and a Book of the Year in The Guardian,[21] The Irish Times,[22] The Spectator,[23] Attitude,[24] and the Irish Independent,[25] and was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.[26] The Sunday Times wrote of Hewitt that "his poetry will stand the test of time".[27] Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Max Porter describes Hewitt as "an exquisitely calm and insightful lyric poet, reverential in nature and gorgeously wise in the field of human drama."[28] Tongues of Fire is a book of lyric poetry, and explores queer sexuality, grief, and the natural world.[29][30][31]

Hewitt's book-length study of the Irish playwright, poet and travel writer J. M. Synge, J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism, is published by Oxford University Press.[32]

Hewitt's memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, was published in 2022.[33]

• Winner of The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, 2022.
• Winner of The Laurel Prize, 2021.
• Shortlisted for John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, for Tongues of Fire, 2021.
• Shortlisted for the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer), 2021.
• Shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, for Tongues of Fire, 2020.[34]
• Poetry Book Society Recommendation, for Tongues of Fire, 2020.[26]
• Eric Gregory Award, Society of Authors, 2019.
• Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice, for Lantern, 2019.[35]
• Maurice J. Bric Medal of Excellence, Irish Research Council, 2019.[36]
• The Resurgence Prize, Poetry School, 2017.[37][38]
• Northern Writers' Award, New Writing North, 2016.

• Rapture's Road (Jonathan Cape, 2024)
• 300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World, with Luke Edward Hall (Penguin, 2023)
• All Down Darkness Wide (Jonathan Cape (UK) and Penguin Press (USA), 2022)
• Buile Suibhne / Seán Hewitt, wood engravings by Amy Jeffs (Rochdale, England: Fine Press Poetry, 2021)
• J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism (Oxford University Press, 2021)
• Tongues of Fire (Jonathan Cape, 2020)
• Lantern (Offord Road Books, 2019)