Joseph Hassett Yeats Lecture 2024 - Belinda McKeon

This year’s lecture, titled “Yeats and the Objects of Home,” was delivered by acclaimed novelist Belinda McKeon, who is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Maynooth University.
The talk examined Yeats’s relationship with everyday objects-his furnishings, possessions and the significance they held in his life and work. McKeon used Yeats’ personal letters, such as one to Lady Gregory in April 1916, in which he discussed everyday topics like improvements to his London apartment, to illustrate how these concerns reflected his broader ideas of home, identity and belonging. McKeon also highlighted several items from Yeats’ own homes to show a link between the poet’s domestic life and his literary creations.