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 ...
Mention the name Dante and most people think of his Inferno or the complete poetic works that fell under the title Divine Comedy. His real name was Durante degli Alighier, he was one of the most influential poets of the Middle Ages, and his Comedy remains one of the seminal literary works in history. Born around 1265 in Italy, Dante was raised ...
Anyone who has heard the hymn Amazing Grace sung either in a stadium or in church will know the work of poet John Newton who was born in London in 1725. Son of a merchant seaman and trader, he worked aboard slave ships in Africa and the West Indies before becoming an abolitionist in later life. Newton lost his mother to tuberculosis ...
