David Constantine at Durham Book Festival

David John Constantine (born 1944) is an English poet, author and translator.

Background

Born in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, Constantine read Modern Languages at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, and was a Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford, until 2000, when he became a Supernumerary Fellow. He lectured in German at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

from 1969 to 1981 and at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

from 1981 to 2000. He was the co-editor of the literary journal ''

Modern Poetry in Translation ''Modern Poetry in Translation'' is a literary magazine and publisher based in the United Kingdom. The magazine was started by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort in 1965. It was relaunched by King's College London in 1992. The College published it ...

''. Along with the Irish poet

Bernard O'Donoghue Bernard O'Donoghue FRSL (born 1945) is a contemporary Irish poet and academic. Early life and education Bernard O'Donoghue was born on 14 December 1945 in Cullen, County Cork, Ireland, where he lived on a farm. “My father was a terrible and r ...

, he is commissioning editor of the

Oxford Poets Oxford Poets is an imprint of the British poetry publisher Carcanet Press. The imprint was established in March 1999 when the founder and editor of Carcanet Press, Michael Schmidt, acquired the Oxford University Press poetry list. OUP's auth ...

imprint of

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was named the '' Sunday Times'' millennium Small Publisher of the Year. History ''Carcanet'' was originally a li ...

and has been a chief judge for the

TS Eliot Prize The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize that was, for many years, awarded by the Poetry Book Society (UK) to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Priz ...

. His collections of poetry include ''Madder'', ''Watching for Dolphins'', ''Caspar Hauser'', ''The Pelt of Wasps'', ''Something for the Ghosts'', ''Collected Poems'' and ''Nine Fathom Deep''. He is a translator of Hölderlin,

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

Kleist Kleist, or von Kleist, is a surname. von Kleist: *August von Kleist (1818–1890), Prussian Major General *Conrad von Kleist (1839-1900), German politician (German Conservative Party), member of Reichstag *Ewald Georg von Kleist (ca. 1700–1748), ...

, Michaux and Jaccottet. In 2015, the film ''

45 Years ''45 Years'' is a 2015 British Romance film, romantic drama film directed and written by Andrew Haigh. The film is based on the short story "In Another Country" by David Constantine. The film premiered in the main competition section of the 65 ...

'', based on Constantine's short story "In Another Country", enjoyed critical acclaim. The film stars

Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of ...

and

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role ...

. Rampling was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for her performance. Constantine is also author of two novels, ''Davies'' and ''The Life Writer'', a biography, ''Fields of Fire: A Life of Sir William Hamilton'', and multiple collections of short stories, including ''Back at the Spike'', the highly acclaimed ''Under the Dam'' (2005) and ''The Shieling'' (2009) and the award-winning ''Tea at the Midland and Other Stories''.

Awards and honours

*2020

Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...

*2013

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented betwe ...

, ''Tea at the Midland and Other Stories''Liz Bury
"David Constantine comes in from the periphery to win Frank O'Connor award"
''The Guardian'', 1 July 2013. *2010

BBC National Short Story Award BBC National Short Story Award is a British literary award for short stories. It was founded in 2005 by the NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) with support from BBC Radio 4 and ''Prospect'' magazine. The winner re ...

, "Tea at the Midland" *2010

, shortlist, ''The Shieling'' *2003

Popescu Prize The Popescu Prize is a biennial poetry award established in 1983.Popescu Prize
, official w ...

, translation of

Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...

's ''Lighter than Air'' *2002 Whitbread Poetry Prize, shortlist, ''Watching for Dolphins''

Bibliography

* ''A Brightness to Cast Shadows'' (1980), Bloodaxe Books, * ''Watching for the Dolphins'' (1983) * ''Early Greek Travellers and the Hellenic Ideal'' (1984) * ''Davies'' (1985) * ''Selected Poems'' (1991) * ''Back at the Spike'' (1994) * ''Caspar Hauser'' (1994) * ''The Pelt of Wasps'' (1998) * ''Something for the Ghosts'' (2002) * ''Under the Dam'' (2005) * ''The Shieling'' (2009) * ''Tea at the Midland and Other Stories'' (2012) * ''Poetry: The Literary Agenda'' (2013) * ''In Another Country: Selected Stories'' (2015) * ''The Dressing-Up Box and Other Stories'' (2019)

Reviews

* Hearn, Sheila G. (1981), review of ''A Brightness to Cast Shadows'', in Murray, Glen (ed.), ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'' No. 5, Summer 1981, pp. 51

References

External links

Profile
at the British Council
Profile and recordings
at the Poetry Archive
David Constantine
Comma Press] {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine, David 1944 births Living people Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English male poets