Carl Tighe (26 April 1950 – 8 May 2020) was a British academic, essayist, novelist, and poet. He taught in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

and was the first Professor of

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

in the UK at the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, E ...

Biography

Carl Tighe was born in Handsworth,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. His father had emigrated from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

just before World War II and his mother was English. He started writing poems and short stories as a teenager, and had some published in Ambit magazine; an influence was

J G Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass m ...

and this led to him applying to study English literature at

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

where he graduated in 1973. He completed an MA in 1974 and taught for a month in Poland. However permanent work eluded him and he subsequently held a variety of low-paid jobs, including gutting and cleaning fish, working as a Red Coat at Butlin's and lavatory attendant at a mental hospital to get him by. During this time he got an offer to teach English in

and went to

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

and

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

for two years on local contracts, taking the train through West and East Germany. He returned to Wales and after two years teaching night-classes at the Mid-Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education, he returned to Poland from 1980 to 1981, where he taught at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

and helped monitor foreign radio for

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

. Upon returning to Britain he moved to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and began writing plays for community theatre in Wales, script-reading for the BBC and writing a book on the history and culture of

on the Polish-German frontier. He left Wales in 1988 to teach for the extramural department at Manchester University, where he taught English and English for Academic Purposes. He began his PhD studies in 1989 and was awarded his doctorate in 1994 with a theses exploring the responses of Polish writers toward Communism. It was partly examined by

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor a ...

. His first full time post was as a lecturer in English at the

in 1998, where in 2000 he led the UK's first undergraduate degree in

and in 2004 he became the first Professor of

in the country. During his career Tighe carried out research into writing in

, where he lived for three years,

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

and presented at conferences as far afield as

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. A favourite retreat was

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

. Tighe's research interests were primarily centred in Central European Literature and comparative politics, but he also wrote upon areas as diverse as the works of

Heinrich Boll Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

Gunter Grass Gunter or Günter may refer to: * Gunter rig, a type of rig used in sailing, especially in small boats * Gunter Annex, Alabama, a United States Air Force installation * Gunter, Texas, city in the United States People Surname * Chris Gunte ...

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a ...

, Stanislav Lem and

Franz Six Franz Alfred Six (12 August 1909 – 9 July 1975) was a Nazi official, promoter of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal. He was appointed by Reinhard Heydrich to head department Amt VII, Written Records of the Reich Security Main Office ( ...

. Much of this work appeared in the

Journal of European Studies The ''Journal of European Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of European studies especially the cultural history of Europe since the Renaissance. The editor-in-chief is John Flower (University of Kent). ...

. In December 2018 he was awarded a

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

for his contribution to the understanding of Polish literature, history and culture. Tighe died on 8 May 2020, from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, twelve days after his 70th birthday.

Writing career

By the late 1990s he had written numerous plays and books. He had written for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, Ambit, and many of his essays had appeared in the Journal of European Studies. His first book of short stories ''Rejoice'' was shortlisted for the Irish Times fiction award and he won the All-London Drama Award, 1988 for his stage play ''A Whisper in the Wind''. Though he had been writing for some time, publishing a novel eluded him. After sending his novel, based on his time in Poland, to countless publishers and getting continuous rejections Tighe did not think his novel would ever hit the shelves. He had almost lost hope but then a small independent press published the novel which went on to earn nominations and awards. The novel, ''Burning Worm'', was shortlisted for Whitbread Award, 2002 and won the Authors' Club Award, 2002.

Awards

Tighe has had several awards and nominations for his writing * A Whisper in the Wind, All-London Drama Award, 1988 * Gdańsk Nominated for the Silver PEN Award, 1991 * Rejoice! Nominated for the David Higham Award, 1992 * Rejoice! Shortlisted for The Irish Times Fiction Prize, November 1993 * Pax: Variations, Winner of City Life Writer of the Year 2000 Award * Burning Worm Short-listed for Whitbread Award, 2002 * Burning Worm Winner of Authors' Club Award, 2002

Works

Novels

* Burning Worm (Impress, 2001) * KssssS: a Tale of Sex, Money & Alien Invasion (IMPress, 2004) * Druids Hill (Five Leaves, 2008)

Short story collections

* Rejoice! And Other Stories (Jonathan Cape, 1992) * Pax: Variations (IMPress, 2000) * Guerilla Writing: A collection of poems and short prose (Independently Published via Amazon Kindle, 2021).

Academic books

* Gdańsk: National Identity in the Polish German Borderlands (Pluto, 1989) * The Politics of Literature: Polish Writers and Communism 1945-89 (University of Wales Press, 1999) * Writing and Responsibility (Routledge, 2005) * Writing the World: Writing as a Subject of Study (Kingston University Press, 2014) * Tradition, Literature and Politics in East-Central Europe (Routledge, 2021).

Teaching books

* Creative and Professional Writing @ University (Independently Published, 2020) * An Archive of Essays (Independently Published, 2020)

Short fiction

* 'Day Out' ''Element 5'', no.3, 1983 * 'The Bird House' ''Spectrum'', June 1983 * 'The Colour of Your Money' ''Iron,'' no.46, June 1985 * 'A Happy Story' ''Frames'', no.4, 1985 * 'Rejoice' ''Planet'', June 1985 * 'A State of Mind' ''Planet'', August 1987 * 'And Now This' ''Ambit'', no.113, August 1988 * 'And Now This' ''20/20'', August 1989 * 'Bug Out' ''Ambit: Irish Edition,'' no.115, February 1989 * 'Bug Out' ''Blueprint'', August 1989 * 'Interviews after Midnight' ''Margins,'' no.10, April, 1990 * 'And Now This' ''Passport,'' no.3, 1991 * 'En Nu Dit' ''De Tweede Ronde'', Spring 1991 * 'Underground' ''New Hungarian Quarterly,'' no.124, winter 1991 * 'Medhbh' ''Literary Review'', February 1992 * 'Reservations' ''Metropolitan'', winter 1993 * 'Snowman' ''Metropolitan'', winter 1994 * 'A State of Mind' ''The Big Issue in the North'', 19–25 August 1996 * 'Visa' ''Metropolitan'', spring 1997 * 'Hartland' ''Ambit,'' no.149, July 1997 * 'Al Haqq' ''Ambit'', no.151, February 1998 * 'Driving Der Führer' ''De Tweede Ronde,'' August 1998 * 'Visiting Auntie' ''Ambit,'' no.158'','' November 1999 * 'Visiting Auntie' www.ambit.co.uk November 1999 * 'Visiting Auntie' ''Heads Exhibition'' Derby Museum & Art Gallery 15–27 January 2000 * 'Rejoice!' (German trans), ''Erkundungen: 28 Walisische Erzahler'', Berlin, 1989 * 'And Now This', ''Best Short Stories of 1989'', G. Gordon & D. Hughes (eds.), 1990 * 'And Now This', ''Minerva Short Stories 2'', G. Gordon & D. Hughes (eds.), 1991 * 'Medhbh', ''Six Irish Writers'', M. McKernan (ed.), Cape, 1992. * 'Trumpet of Victory', ''Telling Stories 3'', D. Minshull (ed.), BBC publications, 1994 * 'Virtporn', ''Waterstone's Alien Landings'', August 1997 * 'Reservations', ''The Best Short Stories of 1994'', G. Gordon & D. Hughes (eds.), 1994 * 'KssssS' (selection from novel) ''Ambit,'' no.167, January 2002 * 'Visiting Auntie', ''Manchester Stories 3,'' R. Page (ed.), ''City Life'' 2002 * 'No Breakfast', www.the-phone-book.com September 2002 * 'Living in the Irish Sea', ''The Quiet Quarter anthology of New Irish Writing'', RTÉ/New Island (Dublin), 2004 * 'Living in the Irish Sea', short story, ''The Quiet Quarter: Ten Years of Great Irish Writing'', RTÉ/Lyric fm/New Island (Dublin) * 'Best Man', ''The Warwick Review,'' March 2010 * 'Neighbours and Strangers', ''Ambit'' no 200'','' spring 2010 * 'Six Memories', ''The Warwick Review,'' June 2012 * 'Two Nuns', ''Istanbul Review'': ''The Screen of Literature'' (Istanbul) March 2013 * 'Early Days', ''Ambit'' no 213, August 2013

Poetry

* 'Five Poems', ''Element 5'', 1982 * 'Four Poems', ''Frames'', 3, 1985 * 'Three Poems', ''Iron 42'', February 1984 * 'Black Man, White Man', ''Poets against Apartheid'', Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement * 'Black Man, White Man', ''Poetry Street 2'', D. Orme & J. Sale (eds.), 1990, * 'Black Man, White Man', ''English GC4 Workbook'', Berlin 1995 * 'Two Poems', ''The Affectionate Punch 2'', November 1995 * 'Crazy Eddie and the Teaching Machine', ''Citi-Zine'' (Derby) June 2010 * 'Seven poems', ''Ambit'' no 203, February 2011 * 'Fourteen Poems', ''The Swansea Review'' Spring 2012 (www.swanseareview.com/2012/editorial) * 'Joyspring', ''80 Words for Martin Bax'', Ambit Press, August 2013

Stage plays

* ''The Walking Upright Show'', (joint author) Studio Group 1974 * ''Work in Progress'', a radio play, published in ''Prospect 1'', 1974 * ''Little Dogs'', with music by Lydia Aylot, Gdańsk, 1976 * ''The 'A' Card'', Open Cast Theatre, commissioned and produced, 1977 * ''Effie's Folly or Ignorance Rewarded'', Open Cast Theatre, 1979 * ''Fair Play'', co-devised and scripted, Open Cast Theatre, 1979 * ''Jewels'', reading by Studio Group, 1979; reading by PoW! 1985; reading by Tabard Theatre, 1986 * ''The Prince and the Dragon'', reading by Made in Wales, 1983 * ''How to be a Lady'': v.1 and v.2, co-scripted, Chwarae Teg, 1981–82 * ''The Big Break'', Action PIE, commissioned and produced 1982 * ''The Hammer and the Anvil'', reading by PoW! 1984; reading by Tabard, 1985 * ''Comic Cabaret Sketches'', 24 Hour Speaking Programme, 1984-5 * ''A Whisper in the Wind'', winner of the All-London Drama Prize, 1987 * ''Rejoice!'' Commissioned by WOT Theatre, Cardiff 1989; Soho Theatre, workshop, April 1997 * ''KssssS'', stage-play version of the novel, commissioned by Contact Theatre with development finance from the BBC and North West Arts Board, spring 2003

Radio scripts

* ''Little Jack Horner'', BBC Wales / Raidió Teilifís Éireann Dublin, 1985 * ''Baku!'' Commissioned and devised for BBC Wales, 1986 * 'The Bird House', BBC Wales, ''Morning Story'', 11 April 1989 * 'The Trumpet of Victory', BBC Radio 4, ''Afternoon Story'', 19 July 1993 * 'Day Out', BBC Radio 4, ''Afternoon Story'', 31 August 1994 * 'Andrzej, Polish Poet', BBC Radio 4, ''Afternoon Story'', 6 December 1995 * 'April Fool', BBC Radio 4, ''Afternoon Story'', 1 April 1996 * 'Lucy', BBC Radio 4, ''Afternoon Story'', 9 September 1996 * 'Radio Regen Tall Tales: Burning Worm', Radio Regen, 13 August 2000 * 'One' Lyric fm, ''The Quiet Quarter'', Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 24 June 2002 * 'Two' Lyric fm, ''The Quiet Quarter,'' Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 25 June 2002 * 'Three' Lyric fm, ''The Quiet Quarter,'' Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 26 June 2002 * 'Four' Lyric fm, ''The Quiet Quarter,'' Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 27 June 2002 * 'Five' Lyric fm, ''The Quiet Quarter,'' Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 28 June 2002 * 'Mothers' BBC Radio 4, ''Off the Page'', 6 Sept 2002 * 'Naggety-Nag' Lyric fm, ''The Quiet Quarter,'' Raidió Teilifís Éireann, 24 December 2002

Academic articles

* 'Andzrej D: Polish Poet' ''Poetry Wales'', spring 1988

Journal articles

* Franz Six: A Career in the Shadows, Journal of European Studies, 2007. * Budapest Diary, Journal of European Studies, 2010.

Edited works

* The Playwrights' Register (Yr Academi Gymreig, 1984)

References

External links

Official website

Tighe
in

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Tighe
in

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Tighe
in Encyclopedia.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tighe, Carl British male writers British radio writers British short story writers British poets 1950 births 2020 deaths People from Handsworth, West Midlands Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England