Ken Smith (poet)

Ken Smith (4 December 1938 Rudston, Yorkshire – 27 June 2003) was a British poet.

Life

He was son of a farm labourer, and he had an itinerant childhood. He attended Leeds University and studied with Geoffrey Hill, with fellow students Tony Harrison and Jon Silkin.

With Jon Silkin, he later co-edited Stand magazine, from 1963 to 1972.

He left for America, teaching at Slippery Rock State College, College of the Holy Cross, and Clark University.

He returned to England in 1973,[1] teaching at Leeds University as a Yorkshire arts fellow from 1976 to 1978.[2]

He married Annie Minnis in 1960; they had one son and two daughters, but the marriage dissolved. In 1981, he married the poet and artist Judi Benson; he thus became stepfather to her son.[3]

In 2018 Stand Magazine[4] published a special Ken Smith celebration issue for what would have been his 80th birthday.

Awards

Works

Poetry
  • Eleven Poems. Northern House. 1964.
  • The Pity. Jonathan Cape 1967.
  • Work, Distances/Poems. Swallow Press. 1972. ISBN 978-0-8040-0588-3.
  • Tristan Crazy, Bloodaxe, 1978. ISBN 0-906427-00-2.
  • Tales of the Hunter. Four Zoas. 1979.
  • Grainy Pictures of the Rain. Truedog Press. 1981. ISBN 0-937212-02-4.
  • Abel Baker Charlie Delta Epic Sonnets. Bloodaxe. 1981. ISBN 0-906427-25-8.
  • Fox Running. Bloodaxe Books. 1981. ISBN 978-0-906427-22-4.
  • Burned Books. Bloodaxe Books. 1981. ISBN 978-0-906427-23-1.
  • The poet reclining: selected poems 1962-1980. Bloodaxe Books. 1982. ISBN 978-0-906427-50-7.
  • The House Of Numbers. Rolling Moss Press. 1985. ISBN 0-950-7048-1-4
  • Terra. Bloodaxe Books. 1986. ISBN 978-0-906427-94-1.
  • A Book Of Chinese Whispers. Bloodaxe. 1987. ISBN 978-0906427934.
  • Wormwood. Bloodaxe Books. 1987. ISBN 978-1-85224-037-0.
  • The Heart, the Border Publisher. Bloodaxe Books. 1990. ISBN 978-1-85224-139-1.
  • Tender To The Queen Of Spain. Bloodaxe Books. 1993. ISBN 978-1-85224-261-9.
  • Wild Root. Bloodaxe Books. 1998. ISBN 978-1-85224-461-3.
  • Wire Through The Heart. Ister. 2001.
  • Shed: poems, 1980-2001. Bloodaxe. 2002. ISBN 978-1-85224-571-9.
  • You again: last poems & other words. Bloodaxe. 2004. ISBN 978-1-85224-670-9.

Prose
  • Frontwards In A Backwards Movie. Arc Publications. 1974. ISBN 0 902771 33 7.
  • Anus Mundi. Four Zoas. 1976.
  • Ten Poets In Leeds (programme notes for readings at Leeds Playhouse). 1978.
  • The Joined Up Writing. the x press. 1980.
  • The Queen's Dreams (short story) Harry Novak Books. 1986.
  • Inside Time (with Dave Wait). Harrap. 1989. ISBN 978-0245547201
  • Berlin: Coming In From The Cold. Hamish Hamilton. 1990. ISBN 978-0-241-13072-8.

Editor

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-11. Retrieved 2009-07-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Glover, Jon (3 July 2003). "Ken Smith:A poet of self-discovery". The Guardian. London.
  3. "Ken Smith: Poet of ambition and real feeling". the Independent. London. 2 July 2003.
  4. "Stand Magazine Literary, Poetry, Prose, online poetry and prose resource - Welcome". www.standmagazine.org. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.