The first six pieces in [Preoccupations: Selected Prose 1968–1978], all quite short, form an untitled section on their own, though three are headed "Mossbawn" and three "Belfast". They are all, in the best sense, self-centred—informal circumstantial sketches of [Heaney's] upbringing in Co Derry, his childhood reading and absorption of "rhymes", his literary apprenticeship as an undergraduate at Queen's …, and a laconic Christmas 1971 message from the battlefront….

One of Heaney's considerable gifts in these prose pieces is that he keeps a proper—and not mock-modest—commonsensical balance, whether he is talking about himself or other poets….

The refinement and extension of Heaney's art, which reached its striven-for level in North …, goes hand-in-glove with his strong but delicate handling of other men's flowers. In Preoccupations, lectures and reviews show a generosity of spirit, and an acuteness of mind, which can see the best in such different recent poets as Ted...