In September, we welcomed Lockdown Heaney, a portrait of the artist by Colin Davidson. Seen for the first time in a public space, this striking portrait looks right at home in the Wolfson Lecture Theatre, where Heaney's watchful eye will look on until December. For those who loved our Donovan Wylie exhibition - fear not! The lighthouse's beacon can still be seen in this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness - ask staff about the new location or come and discover for yourself.

In addition, we've revamped and refreshed our permanent exhibition to include a wider range of our holdings - including our copy of the limited-edition Lighthouse book. Keeping company with special editions, Happenstance and Many Mansions, generously gifted to the Centre by Deirdre Carson, these serve as a reminder of our interest in all aspects of making good books, and the spirit of collaboration we so treasure. This stylish note is not limited to books and their bindings either: those of you who knew and loved the Centre's first Director will be pleased to see a few of Ciaran Carson's personal items added to our display, also courtesy of the Carson family. At last we have a hat to tip to him!

October also marks the 30th anniversary of Heaney's Nobel win. To celebrate this, we're offering a taste of his work via Beowulf for Breakfast - a two-week series taken from the BBC's Book at Bedtime readings where you'll get to hear Seamus's translation in his own inimitable tones. The series starts on Mon 13 Oct at 10.00 - 10.15 am in the Wolfson Lecture Theatre, and runs each weekday until the 24th. Feel free to join us!

Heaney's work as a translator is also honoured by the Centre's forthcoming Translation Day where we'll hear from speakers including Dr Kath Stevenson from Queen's Special Collections, who will provide insight into the influence of Heaney's study of Old English during his student years and the impact this had on his much-garlanded translation of Beowulf. This month we will be welcoming a selection of the Heaney horde held by Special Collections to the Centre for one week only, including materials related to the Beowulf translation and select student notebooks. These will be on display for one week only in the exhibition space from Mon 13 Oct. Let neither Grendel nor dragon keep you from this one!