We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.
Nathaniel Graham Shepherd was a 19th century American poet and journalist whose famous, and poignant, poem The Roll Call is often quoted whenever American Memorial Day comes around. It’s an account of the aftermath of a Civil War battle when the names are read to a platoon of soldiers standing on parade, but only a few are left to answer their names. ...
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was an 8th century waka poet and statesman who lived during the Nara period of Japanese history. This covered the years 710-794 and was when Empress Gemmei established the capital of the country in the city that is now known as Nara for all but five years (740-745). Yakamochi belongs to an elite group of writers known as the Thirty Six Poetry ...
Osip Mandelstam was a Jewish Russian essayist and poet who was unfortunate to live at a time when intellectuals of his kind were cruelly persecuted by the Soviet authorities. He belonged to a literary group called the “Guild of Poets” who followed Acmeism, demonstrating compactness and clarity in their poetic expression. This movement’s name comes from a Greek word acme and it is ...
Nettie Palmer was an Australian poet and essayist who also became the most prominent literary critic in her country. She was born Janet Gertrude Palmer on the 18th August 1885 in Bendigo, Victoria and later acquired the nickname “Nettie”. Her parents were of Irish immigrant stock and raised a very bright child who excelled at the Presbyterian Ladies" College, Melbourne before going on ...
Orrick Johns was and American writer born in the late 19th century. He moved in elite literary circles and was able to count amongst his contemporaries the likes of Ernest Hemingway, T S Eliot and F Scott Fitzgerald. His work was admired by many, including fellow poet Sara Teasdale who conducted a long-running series of correspondence with him. A ...
Orlando Gibbons was an English writer and musician who lived during the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods. He was an accomplished keyboard player, specialising in the virginal and organ, and he established himself as England’s leading polyphonic composer during the early part of the 17th century. He was born in December 1583 in Oxford and his father, William, was one of the town’s ...
Nicholas Breton was an English poet and novelist whose work mainly centred on pastoral, religious and satirical themes. He originated from the small parish of Layer Breton in Essex, hence his name, but his surname has sometimes been written down as Britton or Brittaine. He was born sometime during the year 1545 into a very wealthy family, probably living in the “Capitall Mansion House” in ...
Octave Crémazie was a 19th century French Canadian poet who so caught the imagination of the Canadian reading public that he became known as the “father of French Canadian poetry." He specialised in patriotic verse and was at the forefront of the cultural development of Quebec. He was born on the 16th April 1827 in Quebec City. His parents perhaps had a religious future planned ...
Nicholas Grimald was a 16th century English poet, playwright and man of the church whose allegiances swung from Protestant to Catholic to suit his circumstances. His name is sometimes written as Grimoald, or Grimaldi, and many of his pieces of work were in the form of songs or sonnets. Nicholas Grimald was born sometime during the year 1519, or possibly in 1520, in Leighton ...
Nicholas Udall was a 16th century writer, cleric and schoolmaster. He served as headmaster at the exclusive Eton public school for seven years, although he left that position under a cloud following scandals that were enough to earn him a spell in Marshalsea prison. As a writer he was sometimes known by variations of his name, Uvedale or Udal being two of them. ...
