Seán Hewitt

Seán Hewitt
FRSL
Born1990 (age 35–36)
Warrington, Cheshire, England
CitizenshipBritish, Irish
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
University of Liverpool
OccupationsPoet, lecturer, critic
Writing career
GenresPoetry
Literary criticism
Notable worksTongues of Fire
All Down Darkness Wide
Notable awardsRooney Prize for Irish Literature
Eric Gregory Award
Websiteseanehewitt.com

Seán Hewitt FRSL (born 1990) is a poet, lecturer and literary critic.[1] In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[2]

Life

Seán Hewitt was born in Warrington, UK, to an Irish mother and English father.[3][4] He studied English at Girton College, Cambridge.[5][6]

Hewitt received his PhD, on the works of J. M. Synge, from the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool.[7] He lives in Dublin, where he lectures at Trinity College Dublin.[8]

Career

Hewitt won an Eric Gregory Award in 2019 and won the Resurgence Poetry Prize in 2017.[9][10] He also received a Northern Writers' Award in 2016.[11] Hewitt was listed as one of The Sunday Times' "30 under 30" artists in Ireland in 2020.[12] His pamphlet Lantern was a 2019 Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice.[13]

Jonathan Cape in 2020.[14][15] Tongues of Fire is a book of lyric poetry, and explores queer sexuality, grief, and the natural world.[16][17][18] It was released to critical acclaim.[19] It won the Laurel Prize in 2021 and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2022,[20][21] and was shortlisted for the 2020 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the 2021 John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, and the 2021 Dalkey Literary Award for Emerging Writer.[22][23][24] It was the Poetry Book of the Month in The Observer;[25] a Book of the Year in The Guardian,[26] The Irish Times,[27] The Spectator,[28] Attitude,[29] and the Irish Independent;[30] and was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.[31] The Sunday Times wrote of Hewitt that "his poetry will stand the test of time".[32] Novelist Max Porter described Hewitt as "an exquisitely calm and insightful lyric poet, reverential in nature and gorgeously wise in the field of human drama."[27]

Hewitt's book-length study of the Irish writer J. M. Synge, J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism, was published by Oxford University Press.[33] In 2021, he also edited the Candlestick Press anthology Ten Poems from the Countryside.[34]

Hewitt's memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, was published in 2022.[35] He was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2022.[21]

Hewitt's first novel, Open, Heaven, was published in 2025 by Alfred A. Knopf in New York and by Jonathan Cape in London.[3]

Hewitt was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Take Four Books on 25 May 2025, discussing Open, Heaven, and three of the texts which influenced it. These three works were The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley, Maurice by E. M. Forster, and The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien.[36]

In 2025 Hewitt was one of the judges of the PEN Heaney Prize.[37]

Awards

Year Nominated work Award Category Result Ref.
2016 — New Writing North Northern Writers' Award Waterhouse Award Winner [11]
2017 "Ilex" Poetry School Resurgence Poetry Prize — [38][39]
2019 — Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year Awards Maurice J. Bric Medal of Excellence [40]
— Eric Gregory Award — [9]
2020 Tongues of Fire Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award — Shortlisted [41]
2021 Dalkey Literary Award Emerging Writer [22]
John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize —
Poetry School Laurel Prize — Winner [20]
2022 — Rooney Prize for Irish Literature — [21]
2025 Rapture's Road Dylan Thomas Prize — Shortlisted [42]
Open, Heaven Spiegel Buchpreis — [43]
2026 Dylan Thomas Prize — [44]

Bibliography

Poetry

  • Lantern (Offord Road Books, 2019)
  • Tongues of Fire (Jonathan Cape, 2020)
  • Buile Suibhne / Seán Hewitt, wood engravings by Amy Jeffs (Rochdale, England: Fine Press Poetry, 2021)
  • 300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World, with Luke Edward Hall (Penguin, 2023)
  • Rapture's Road (Jonathan Cape, 2024)

Critical studies

Memoirs

  • All Down Darkness Wide (Jonathan Cape (UK) and Penguin Press (USA), 2022)

Novels

  • Open, Heaven (Penguin Books, 2025)

As editor

  • Ten Poems from the Countryside (Candlestick Press, 2021) ISBN 9781907598937

References

  1. ↑ "Seán Hewitt". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. ↑ Creamer, Ella (12 July 2023). "Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 Perry, Sarah (24 April 2025). "Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt review – an exquisite tale of first love". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Donnelly, Niamh (20 April 2025). "Author Seán Hewitt: 'I want to make a small case for bringing beautiful things to the centre of the novel again'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "I poeti irlandesi Seán Hewitt e James Conor Patterson vincono gli Eric Gregory Awards". Les Enfants Terribles (in Italian). 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 9 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "The Year 2012". Girton College. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2020 – via Issuu.
  7. ↑ "Irish Studies student wins major poetry prize". News - University of Liverpool. 11 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "Dr Seán Hewitt". Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 Doyle, Martin (17 June 2019). "Irish poets Seán Hewitt and James Conor Patterson win Eric Gregory Awards". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "£100,000 'night of riches' – announcing the 2019 Society of Authors' Awards winners". The Society of Authors. 17 June 2019. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020.
  11. 1 2 Lowes, Jude (1 July 2016). "Announcing the winners of the Northern Writers' Awards 2016". Northern Writers' Awards. Retrieved 13 August 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Barter, Pavel (3 May 2020). "30 under 30: Ireland's most promising artists". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Summer 2019". The Poetry Book Society. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Seán Hewitt". Penguin. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Writer interview: Seán Hewitt". The Nan Shepherd Prize. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. ↑ Hewitt, Seán (23 April 2020). "Seán Hewitt: I would give all my poems to have my father back". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  17. ↑ Boland, Eavan (2019). "Featured Poet: Seán Hewitt". Poetry Ireland Review. 127: 66.
  18. ↑ O'Leary, Olivia (10 April 2020). "RTÉ Poetry Programme: John F. Deane and Seán Hewitt". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  19. ↑ "Seán Hewitt". The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  20. 1 2 "The Laurel Prize 2021 – Winners!". Simon Armitage | The Official Website. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  21. 1 2 3 Doyle, Martin (27 October 2022). "Seán Hewitt awarded 2022 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  22. 1 2 "Seán Hewitt". Young Writer of the Year Award. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  23. ↑ Doyle, Martin (15 April 2021). "Irish writers longlisted for Desmond Elliott Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  24. ↑ "Emerging Writer Award Shortlist 2021". Zurich Ireland. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  25. ↑ Kellaway, Kate (12 May 2020). "Poetry book of the month: Tongues of Fire by Seán Hewitt – review". The Observer. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  26. ↑ Dastidar, Rishi (28 November 2020). "Best poetry books of 2020". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  27. 1 2 Doyle, Martin (30 June 2020). "Books of 2020: Max Porter, Emilie Pine, Sara Baume and more pick the best reads of the year so far". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  28. ↑ "Books of the Year II — chosen by our regular reviewers". The Spectator. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  29. ↑ Stroude, Will (31 December 2020). "The 20 best LGBTQ books of 2020". Attitude. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  30. ↑ "The best books of 2020: Our critics select their picks of the year". Irish Independent. 6 December 2020.
  31. ↑ "Summer 2020 Selections". The Poetry Book Society. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  32. ↑ Wright, Bert (31 May 2020). "Tongues of Fire by Seán Hewitt review". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  33. ↑ Roche, Anthony (1 May 2021). "JM Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism by Seán Hewitt: original, powerful synergy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  34. ↑ "Ten Poems from the Countryside". London Review Bookshop.
  35. ↑ Chandler, Mark (3 November 2020). "Cape snaps up 'exquisite' memoir from Hewitt". The Bookseller. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  36. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Take Four Books, Seán Hewitt". BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  37. ↑ Spanoudi, Melina (23 October 2025). "Six titles shortlisted for PEN Heaney Prize 2025". The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  38. ↑ "'Ilex' by Seán Hewitt - Resurgence Prize Winner". Poetry School. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "Irish Research Council announces 2019 'Researchers of the Year'". Irish Research Council. 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  40. ↑ "Irish Research Council announces 2019 'Researchers of the Year'". Irish Research Council. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  41. ↑ "The Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year award 2020: shortlist announced". The Times. 1 November 2020. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  42. ↑ "2025 Shortlist". Swansea University. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  43. ↑ Hammelehle, Sebastian (10 November 2025). "SPIEGEL Buchpreis: Seán Hewitt, »Öffnet sich der Himmel«". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  44. ↑ Loffhagen, Emma (19 March 2026). "Derek Owusu and Seán Hewitt shortlisted for Dylan Thomas prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
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