Jane Griffiths (born 1970) is a British poet and literary historian.

Career and writings

Griffiths was born in

Exeter, England Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, and brought up in the Netherlands. She studied English 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 ...

, where she won the Newdigate prize for her poem "The House". After working as a

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, ...

in London and Norfolk, she returned to Oxford to gain a doctorate with a dissertation on the Tudor poet

John Skelton John Skelton may refer to: *John Skelton (poet) (c.1460–1529), English poet. * John de Skelton, MP for Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency) *John Skelton (died 1439), MP for Cumberland (UK Parliament constituency) *John Skelton (American footb ...

, and became an editor on the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

. Her poetry gained her an

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2021, the seven ...

in 1996. Griffiths taught at Oxford University's St. Edmund Hall, before becoming a lecturer in English literature at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. She was appointed a lecturer in the Department of English at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 2007. In 2012, she left her position as senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Bristol to become a CUF Lecturer in medieval and early modern English literature at the University of Oxford and a tutorial fellow of

Wadham College 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 ...

. According to her university page, Griffiths works primarily on the poetry and drama of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Her first monograph on John Skelton was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(OUP) in 2005, and she is working on a second monograph, on marginal glosses, which is also to be published by OUP. Her collection ''Another Country'' was short-listed for the 2008 Forward Poetry Prize. Griffiths' fourth collection of poetry ''Terrestrial Variations'' was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2012. It was described by Adam Thorpe (''

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 ...

'') as "sensuously wrought and even, at times, subtly erotic, her poems simultaneously evoke another level of pure abstraction, with words in place of coils of paint". In 2017 Griffiths’ fifth collection of poems ''Silent In Finisterre'' was published. It was described by Sarah Broom in ''

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 ...

'' as "a major achievement, outstanding, complex and subtle in thought, supple of tone and piercing in its observation". Her collection ''Little Silver'' was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2022.https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/little-silver-1300

Poetry volumes

*''The House'' (Hitchin: Mandeville Press, 1990). *''A Grip on Thin Air'' (Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2000). *''Icarus on Earth'' (Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2005). *''Another Country: New and Selected Poems'' (Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2008). . *''Terrestrial Variations'' (Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2012) . *''Silent In Finisterre'' (Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2017) . *''Little Silver'' (Tarset, Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books, 2022) .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Jane 1970 births Living people English women poets 21st-century English poets 21st-century English women