Seamus Heaney and other eminent artists, scientists and commentators examine what happens when art is created. Is the imagination still seen as the driving force of creativity within contemporary 'knowledge economies'? What does the artistic process say about the struggle against trite lives and trivializing education? The essays are introduced by the composer John Buckley, and former Arts Council director Ciaran Benson offers an afterword. This sparkling, rigorous dialogue is based on the third series of the Seamus Heaney Lectures, delivered at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, in 2004-5.