Hedes & Dekes: T.S Eliot's Birthday Bash!

To celebrate the 86th birthday of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land,” one of the 20th century’s most revolutionizing poems, a contingent of England’s foremost literary voices gathered to read segments of the poem aloud.

Making a rare public appearance was Valerie Eliot, T.S. Eliot’s second wife and widow, who was 37 years his junior and who accompanied him on many of his literary ventures. Said Mrs. Eliot, “It was marvelous to hear Tom’s poems and to have them read so well.”

The event was organized by Josephine Hart, known for pioneering public poetry readings at the British Library. Part of the T.S. Eliot International Summer School, readers included Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, actor Jeremy Irons, "The Wire’s" Dominic West, and actress Anna Cartaret.

Check out the photo, which shows the impressive line-up at this historical event! [Via This is London]

--Rachel Frier

Photo: This is London