Brendan Kennelly is one of Ireland's most distinguished poets, lecturers and broadcasters. He is a renowned editor and anthologist, and was Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, until his retirement. This collection of essays addresses Kennelly's work comprehensively, and includes a biographical portrait, an extensive bibliography and a penetrating interview. It portrays Kennelly as a man of two 'villages', his birthplace of Ballylongford in County Kerry and his workplace of Trinity College, Dublin, while locating him in the world of poetry as a craftsman who cares passionately about the continuing importance of lyric and narrative poetry and indeed the nature of language and the status of writing. The essays are by leading literary critics and Kennelly specialists: Jonathan Allison, Terence Brown, Gerald Dawe, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Augustine Martin, Kathleen McCracken, Ake Persson, Richard Pine and Anthony Roche. The book has a Foreword by Ireland's President, Michael D. Higgins.