Anne Barrett Rouse (born September 26, 1954) is an American-British poet. She has been cited as a noted American-British contributor to contemporary British poetry.

Biography

She was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and read history at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Afterwards, she worked as a nurse and as the director of the

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

charity Islington

Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

. Now a freelance writer, she has had numerous residencies, including fellowships at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and the Courtauld Institute of Art. Rouse has been described by the International Poetry Society as an "accomplished and intelligent writer" and by Don Paterson and Charles Simic in their anthology New British Poetry as a poet of "great formal deftness", with a fine gift for social themes incorporated into her poetry. Rouse, in her earlier works, often draws upon her experiences as a nurse and mental health worker. Her poems often fuse together the ordinary and the bizarre, often with use of satire and humour. All four of her collections to date have been published by

Bloodaxe Books Bloodaxe Books is a British publishing house specializing in poetry. History Bloodaxe Books was founded in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Neil Astley, who is still editor and managing director. Bloodaxe moved its editorial office to Northumbe ...

, including ''Sunset Grill'' (1993) and ''Timing'' (1997), both of which were Poetry Book Society Recommendations. A number of her poems have appeared in anthologies, such as ''New British Poetry'' (2004). Several of the poems in ''Timing'' were written as performances pieces, such as "Spunk Talking," and many of them have been described as being "hymns to the momentary and the marvelously futile: physical love, football, the preoccupations of patients on a dementia ward, fashion, and poetry itself." Her poem "Glass" was published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and she has also had work published in the London Review of Books, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

''. Rouse has performed her poetry at Arvon Foundation, the South Bank, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and Almeida Theatre. In 2004 she recorded her poems "Childminding," "The Anaesthetist," "Sighting," and "Testament" for the British Council. In 2008, Rouse published a poetry collection, entitled ''The Upshot: New and Selected Poems''. This included the poem sequence "The Divided," which has been described as constructing "a modern meta-physic out of love and the daily, set against the latent (sometimes tragic) divisions in contemporary society." Rouse has also collaborated with the composer Morgan Hayes, the artist Emily Johns, and the artist and graphic designer Erica Smith.

Personal life

Rouse was formerly a fellow of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...

. She currently lives in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

Poetry collections

* ''Sunset Grill'' (1993) * ''Timing'' (1997) * ''The School of Night'' (2004) * ''The Upshot: New and Selected Poems'' (2008) *''Ox-Eye'' (2022)

References

External links

Article on her literary styleInterview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse, Anne 1954 births American women poets British women poets Writers from Virginia Poets from Washington, D.C. Living people American expatriates in the United Kingdom British poets 21st-century American women