-
He was born, the eldest of three children, on a farm in County Armagh outside The Moy, near the boundary with County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His father worked as a farmer and his mother was a school-mistress.
-
In 1969, he read English at Queen's University Belfast, and became close to the Belfast Group of poets.
-
He met his first wife, fellow student, and they were married after their graduation in 1973.
-
In 1977, He divoced with His wife.
-
In 1990, He won Guggenheim Fellowship
-
In 1994, He won T. S. Eliot Prize
-
In 2003, He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
-
