Longley, Michael (1939– )

Northern Irish poet. Part of the group of Ulster poets who emerged during the late 1960s and early 1970s, of which Seamus Heaney was at the forefront, he was known for his elegant style of formal poetry. In his later poems he wrote about the political and social turmoil in Northern Ireland and the meaning of artistic identity. His collections include No Continuing City (1969), An Exploded View (1973), The Echo Gate (1979), Gorse Fires (1991; Whitbread Prize for Poetry), The Weather in Japan (2000), and Snow Water (2004).

Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents. He studied Classics at Trinity College in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. He became a teacher and then worked for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland 1970–91.