We keep you updated on the world of poetry with our news roundups.
In 17th century England, coinciding with the Restoration of the monarchy, there were a number of artists and writers around and Aphra Behn stands out in this company. She was, most certainly one of the first female writers to make her mark in English literature. She wrote a number of plays, poems and novels and, perhaps shocking to society at that time, ...
Regarded by some as ‘the poet’s poet, Pulitzer prize-winning poet Donald Justice was revered by fellow writers for his mastery of precision and his ability to make every piece of writing vital. His poems tended to be short – forty lines or less. Justice once said: “one motive for much, if not all art is....to keep memorable what deserves to be remembered.” He was ...
If ever a poet could truly be described as ‘tortured’ then perhaps Charlotte Mew is that poet. She undoubtedly was the product of a family mired in mental illness. Two of her siblings were committed to mental institutions while another three siblings died in early childhood and so Charlotte and the only surviving sister, Anne, each decided to never marry for fear ...
Yunus Emre was a simple, devoutly religious Turkish poet and Sufi mystic whose life spanned both the 13th and 14th centuries. He made a point of writing, singing and speaking in the true Turkish language of the day rather than adopting the Persian or Arabic speech that was prevalent in his own country, particularly amongst the sophisticated. Sufis were Muslim mystics and ...
Born in 1926 in Austria, Ingeborg Bachmann was a poet and novelist who became one of the most important writers to emerge from post war Germany. She is perhaps best known for two collections of haunting poetry, Borrowed Time and Invocation of the Great Bear. An ardent anti-fascist who hated it when Hitler’s troops marched into her home town, her war ...
St John of the Cross began his life in humble circumstances in mediaeval Spain but became a renowned mystical philosopher and a great poet while striving to keep the Carmelite Order of monks intact. The middle of the 16th century saw turbulent times all over Europe and catholic priests and other holy men were, in particular, often persecuted. He was imprisoned for ...
The relatively short life of Richard Lovelace could be summed up as follows: he was a Royalist, fiercely loyal to his King during the Civil War, but he found little time or opportunity to be an effective soldier. He spent much of his time on the composition of songs and romantic poems, and was usually to be found somewhere on the family ...
Born in 1402, before the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Nezahualcoyotl was the ruler of Texcoco and also a poet, philosopher and builder of great renown. He was raised as heir to the throne of Texcoco but when he was 15 the kingdom was overthrown and Nezahualcoyotl was forced into exile. He later returned in 1428 with an army of over 10,000 soldiers ...
Ono no Komachi was born in 825 and her name is synonymous with beauty even today in modern Japan. She was a waka poet and is listed amongst the 36 immortals of poetry in Japan, those who wrote during the Nara, Asuka and Heian periods. Her poetry was often passionate and generally erotic, and was thought to eclipse the work ...
Most well-known for his prose poems, Louis Jenkins was born in Oklahoma in 1942. Using wry humor and witty observations, he carefully disassembles the mundane moments of our everyday lives and makes them extraordinary. Jenkins has lived in Minnesota for the last thirty years and has published a number of poetry collections, the first in 1970 titled Before You Know It. He ...
