David Harsent
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David Harsent is an English poet and was born in Devon on the 9th December 1942. His Selected Poems 1969–2005 appeared in 2007.
During his early career he was part of a circle of poets centred around Ian Hamilton, and forming something of a school, promoting conciseness and imagist-like clarity in verse, though his work has changed and developed a good deal since then.
He has published nine collections of poetry which have won several literary prizes and awards. 'Legion' won the Forward Prize for best collection 2005 and was shortlisted for both the T.S. Eliot and Whitbread Awards. His work in music theatre has involved collaborations with a number of composers (but most often with Sir Harrison Birtwistle, the opera 'Gawain' being their most notable collaboration, perhaps) and has been performed at the Royal Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Southbank Centre, The Proms, the Wiener Kammeroper, and broadcast on BBC Two, Channel 4 and Trio (USA). A new opera, The Minotaur (also with Birtwistle) opened at The Royal Opera House in 2008. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Holloway University and in 2005 was appointed Distinguished Writing Fellow at Sheffield, Hallam University.
He is married to actress Julia Watson, and the couple have one child.
[edit] Bibliography
- A Violent Country (1969)
- After Dark (1973)
- Truce (1973)
- Dreams of the Dead (1977)
- Mister Punch (1984)
- From an Inland Sea (1985)
- Savramena Britanska Poezija , editor with Mario Susko, (1988)
- Gawain: a Libretto (1991)
- Storybook Hero (1992)
- News from the Front (1993)
- The Sorrow of Sarajevo , translations of poems by Goran Simic, illustrated by Robert McNab, (1996)
- Sprinting from the Graveyard, translations of poems by Goran Simic, (1997)
- A Bird’s Idea of Flight (1998)
- Another Round at the Pillars: A Festschrift for Ian Hamilton, editor, (1999)
- Marriage (2002)
- Raising the Iron, editor, (2004)
- Legion (2005)
- Selected Poems, 1969–2005 (2007)
[edit] Prizes and Awards
- 1967 Eric Gregory Award
- 1970 Art Council Writer’s Award
- 1977 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for Dreams of the Dead
- 1978 Art Council Writer’s Award
- 1988 Society of Authors Travel Award
- 1998 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) (shortlist) for A Bird’s Idea of Flight
- 2002 T.S. Eliot Prize (short list) for Marriage
- 2002 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) (shortlist) for Marriage
- 2005 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) for Legion
- 2005 T.S. Eliot Prize (short list) for Legion
- 2005 Whitbread Poetry Award (short list) for Legion
- 2007 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) (shortlist) for The Hut in Question
- 2008 Griffin Poetry Prize (International shortlist) for Selected Poems, 1969–2005
[edit] External links
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