Death of a Naturalist
Procreate, digital
Procreate, digital
This project is a storyboard adaptation of Seamus Heaney’s poem, Death of a Naturalist. Part of a larger eponymous poetry collection, it was published. in 1995 and won Heaney a Nobel Prize in Literature. The collection explores the poet’s childhood in Ireland as he slowly finds himself through a burgeoning sense of personal, familial, and national identity. The full poem can be found here.
My adaptation focused on telling the story through the poetry of images, situating the viewer in the headspace of a young Seamus Heaney. The editing is designed like a train of consciousness, weaving a child’s perception of reality with fantastical elements. I wished to evoke the violence that comes with a loss of innocence. The focus on sensory images is an evocation of Heaney’s loving, passionate use of language.
Character sketches and annotation of the poem:
