Celebrated poet and Detroit native dies at 81
Heffernan won the Porter Prize for Poetry in 1998
Renowned poet and Detroit native Michael Heffernan, winner of the 1998 Porter Prize for Poetry and author of a dozen collections of critically acclaimed poetry, died Friday. He was 81.
Heffernan, who was raised in southwest Detroit, was known for pushing the boundaries of traditional poetic forms such as sonnets, sestinas and iambic pentameters, infusing them with everyday conversational tones and theological depth.
He began his education at Holy Redeemer Catholic School, where he served as an altar boy. He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1960 and earned a degree in English literature and language from the University of Detroit in 1964. He also pursued brief studies at Oxford and held a doctorate in English from the University of Massachusetts.
After completing his academic journey, Heffernan traveled extensively in Europe and started a writing program in partnership with the University of Galway in Ireland and the University of Arkansas.
He started his teaching career with a 1967-69 fellowship at Oakland University in Rochester before joining Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
In 1986, Heffernan relocated to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he taught for 32 years in the graduate writing program at the University of Arkansas. During his career, he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Bread Loaf Scholar, and received three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Heffernan was a prolific author with notable works including “The Cry of Oliver Hardy” (1974), “Love’s Answer,” which won the Iowa Prize in 1994, and “The Bureau of Divine Music,” part of the Made in Michigan series by Wayne
State University Press in 2011. He published five books with Salmon Poetry in Ireland, with his final work being “The Night-Watchman's Daughter.”
A dedicated mentor, Heffernan’s advice to students and aspiring writers was always to “read and invent.” His life reflected this commitment to creativity and learning.
A funeral mass, also available for livestreaming, is scheduled at Joseph Catholic Church, 1722 N. Starr Drive in Fayetteville at 11 a.m. May 24.