The John Hewitt Talk by Dr Frank Ferguson

“The Thistles and The Sheeves”: The Significance of Roberta Hewitt

Wednesday 30 July | 9.45am | £10

Roberta Hewitt was a remarkable person. It is timely that given so much of her writing has been made available to the public through the work of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland that her life and achievement are celebrated. Like many people partnered to a writer in the public arena she has often remained obscured and often misunderstood. The work of her husband, the poet, critic and curator, John Hewitt, has often cast shadows on her own accomplishments. His poetry and memoirs, while praising and celebrating her, have represented her as muse figure who is as often constrained as is free to have agency. As her journal and other writing confirms, Roberta is an important literary figure and activist in her own right. Articulate, perceptive and insightful, she emerges as a powerful, original commentator who is adept at conveying her own sense of being.

Dr Frank Ferguson is Chair of the John Hewitt Society, a member of the Board of Governors of the Linen Hall Library Belfast, Chair of the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund and a member of the Board of NI Screen. He is Research Director for English Language and Literature at Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. He has managed many projects over the years in literature and creative writing