John Whitworth (11 December 1945 - 20 April 2019)[1] was a British poet. Born in India in 1945, he began writing poetry at Merton College, Oxford. He went on to win numerous prizes and publish in many highly regarded venues. He published twelve books: ten collections of his own work, an anthology of which he was the editor, and a textbook on writing poetry.
John Whitworth | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 December 1945 Nashik, India |
| Died | 20 April 2019 (aged 73) Canterbury, Kent, England |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | English |
| Education | James Gillespie's High School Royal High School, Edinburgh |
| Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford |
| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Doreen Roberts |
| Children | Ellie and Katie |
Life
editWhitworth was born in India in 1945. He graduated from Merton College, Oxford. His work appeared in Poetry Review, The Times Literary Supplement,[2] London Magazine, The Spectator,[3] Quadrant, New Poetry,[4][5] The Flea,[6] Chimaera, HyperTexts, Light, Qualm, and Shit Creek Review. He taught a master class at University of Kent.[7] He was a judge for the 9th Poetry on the Lake Competition, 2009.[8] He read at Lamar University.[9] He read at the 9th annual Sarah Lawrence College Poetry Festival 2012.
He was married to Doreen Roberts, who taught at the University of Kent; they had two daughters, Ellie and Katie.[10]
Awards
edit- 1988 Cholmondeley Award
- 2004 The Silver Wyvern, Poetry on the Lake
- 2009 Eleanor Room Poetry Award Lamar University
- 2011 Literary Review £5000 Poetry Prize
Bibliography
editPoetry
edit- Collections
- Whitworth, John (1980). Unhistorical fragments. London: Secker & Warburg.
- — (1982). Poor butterflies. London: Secker & Warburg.
- — (1985). Lovely day for a wedding. Secker & Warburg.
- — (1989). Tennis and sex and death. Peterloo.
- — (1993). Landscape with small humans. Peterloo.
- — (1998). From the sonnet history of modern poetry. Illustrated by Gerald Mangan. Peterloo.
- — (2002). The Whitworth gun. Peterloo.
- — (2007). Being the bad guy. Peterloo.
- — (2011). Girlie gangs. Enitharmon.
- — (2016). Joy in the morning. Kelsay.
- Anthologies
- Whitworth, John, ed. (1997). The Faber book of blue verse. Faber.
- —, ed. (2006). Making love to Marilyn Monroe : the Faber book of blue verse. Faber and Faber.
- List of poems
| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orriblerevelationsinighlife | 2016 | Whitworth, John (January–February 2016). "Orriblerevelationsinighlife". Quadrant. 60 (1–2): 142. | |
| Twelve don'ts for the aged | 2016 | Whitworth, John (January–February 2016). "Twelve don'ts for the aged". Quadrant. 60 (1–2): 4. | |
| Variation on a forgotten theme of James Fenton | 2016 | Whitworth, John (January–February 2016). "Variation on a forgotten theme of James Fenton". Quadrant. 60 (1–2): 111. |
Non-fiction
edit- Whitworth, John (1989). "Poetry into print". Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. A & C Black.
- — (2001). Writing poetry. A & C Black.
- — (2006). Writing poetry (Revised 2nd ed.). A & C Black.
References
edit- ^ "John Whitworth, lively and accessible poet – obituary". The Telegraph. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.(registration required)
- ^ Asthana, Anushka; Sherman, Jill. "The Times Literary Supplement". The Times. London.[dead link]
- ^ "Spectator Magazine | World Politics & Current Events News and Discussion". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ New Poetry - Google Books. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ New Poetry - Google Books. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Broadsheet 10: Tuneable Tweak". The-flea.com. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "News Centre - University of Kent". Kent.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ [1] Archived June 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "John Whitworth: Poet, Poetry, Picture, Bio". Thehypertexts.com. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ [3] Archived October 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
External links
edit- About John Whitworth at Poetry Archive
- "Poems by John Whitworth". The Flea.
- "Poems by John Whitworth". The Flea.
- "Introduction and Interview". Chimaera. September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- Sam Gwynn (September 2008). "How Pleasant to Know Mr Whitworth". Chimaera. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- "Poems by John Whitworth". Shit Creek Review.
- John Whitworth Poems in Qualm
- John Whitworth 2011 Poems in Qualm