Lancastrian writer and poet Marriott Edgar was born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, in 1880 and was most noted for the monologues he wrote for comic actor Stanley Holloway. Whilst little is known of his early life in Scotland and then Lancashire in England, it is generally perceived that he was quite a talented comedian as well as being a respected writer. ...
Here is a troubled individual who struggled right through his short life to find himself. The fact that he put so much time and effort into his one great epic piece of work (The Bridge) suggests that he thought that this would be the answer. It failed though and, because of that, he found himself mentally and physically crushed. He had been ...
Thomas Hood was a British poet, journalist and humorist and his often irreverent, satirical style of writing almost seems out of place for the time in which he lived. If you can imagine transporting the 20th Century writers of Private Eye or Punch back to the early 19th century then you would get some idea of Hood’s modus operandi. He made fun ...
Poet Tony Harrison was born in Leeds in the UK in 1937 and is noted for controversial works such as V that was criticized for its excessive profanity when aired on television. He is recognized as a film and theater poet, a writer from a working class background who has a strong grounding in the classics. Tony Harrison grew up on the ...
Musician, poet, and writer Sidney Lanier was born in Georgia in 1842 and is considered one of the greatest poets produced by the South in the 19th Century. Born into a family that was steeped in Southern traditions and writing, he went to Oglethorpe College where he distinguished himself during his time there, particularly in the arena of debate. He wanted to ...
The 20th century was not an easy time to be a writer in Central and Eastern Europe and Wisława Szymborska struggled along with many of her Polish compatriots. Yet, somehow, she survived the worst of times and survived to a ripe old age, seeing her country transformed and gradually brought out of the pit that represented the dark days of Communism into ...
Although well known as an English poet, who burst onto the popular scene around the 1960s and 1970s, Adrian Henri was also an artist whose work was exhibited at galleries both during his lifetime and after his death. He was fortunate to study art at Kings College, Newcastle under such noted tutors as Lawrence Gowring, Roger de Gray and Richard Hamilton. It ...
Stevie Smith was one of England’s best loved poets throughout the 20th century and one critic declared that her collection Not Waving, But Drowning, which came out in 1957, was actually the best to appear that year. She had a unique style that had a lot to do with never reading the work of her contemporaries. She enjoyed the older stuff like ...
When most people think of Leonard Cohen they see a moody, gravel-voiced singer-songwriter whose on stage performances have drawn millions around the world since the 1970s and who possesses an enviable back catalogue of album releases. But, like anyone with his talent, he is not just a musician but is also a poet and a novelist. His poetry, like his songs, can ...
Born in 1749, Charlotte Smith was a writer who was most well known for her romantic sonnets. Indeed, she can perhaps be rightly called the first of the romantic poets, influencing those who followed, including William Wordsworth. Outspoken for the time, she once described her early marriage as nothing more than prostitution, but although it was not the happiest of ...
