Sally Purcell

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Sally Purcell

Sally Purcell
Born 1 December 1944
Aston Fields, Worcestershire, England
Died 4 January 1998
Oxford
Occupation poet, writer, researcher, translator
Nationality British

Sally Purcell was born in Bromsgrove, Worcs in 1944. She studied Mediaeval and Modern French at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and continued to live and work in Oxford (as typist, barmaid, researcher and, above all, writer) until her death in 1998.

She studied French and Provençal at Oxford. A specialist in mediaeval literature, she has edited the anthology `Monarchs and the Muse’ (Carcanet, 1972), editions of George Peele and Charles d’Orléans (also for Carcanet) and has translated a selection of `Provençal Poems’.

Her previous collections are `The Holly Queen’ (Anvil, 1971), `Dark of Day’ (Anvil, 1977) and `Lake and Labyrinth’ (Taxvs, 1985).

She is also the author (with William Leaf) of `Heraldic Symbols’ (Victoria and Albert Museum, 1986).

As an undergraduate, she cultivated an old-fashioned style of diction, never using contractions.

"I know that my English is 200 years out of date, but I think that I speak it more pleasantly than most," she told her Isis interviewer.

[edit] Bibliography

Poetry

  • The Holly Queen, London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1971 (edited by Peter Jay. Preface by Marina Warner)
  • Dark of Day, London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1977
  • By The Clear Fountain, London: Mammon Press, 1980
  • Guenever and the Looking Glass, London: Greville Press, 1984
  • Lake and Labyrinth, London: Taxvs, 1985
  • Fossil Unicorn. London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1997
  • Collected Poems. London: Anvil Press Poetry, 2002

Poetry Translations

  • Amorgos, by Nikos Gatsos, translated from the Greek by Sally Purcell London: Anvil Press Poetry, 2000

Literary Translations

  • The Early Italian Poets, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, translated from the Italian by Sally Purcell Univ of California Press, 1982
  • The Exile of James Joyce or the Art of Replacement, Translation of L'exil de Joyce ou l'art du remplacement by Hélène Cixous. Transated from the French by Sally Purcell. New York: David Lewis, 1980.