John Whitworth (11 December 1945 - 20 April 2019)
was a British
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
. Born in India in 1945, he began writing poetry at
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
,
Oxford
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 ...
. He went on to win numerous prizes and publish in many highly regarded venues. He published twelve books: ten collections of his own work, an anthology of which he was the editor, and a textbook on writing poetry.
Life
Whitworth was born in India in 1945. He graduated from
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
,
Oxford
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 ...
. His work appeared in ''Poetry Review'', ''The Times Literary Supplement'', ''London Magazine'', ''The Spectator'', ''
Quadrant'', ''New Poetry'', ''
The Flea'', ''Chimaera'', ''HyperTexts'', ''Light'', ''Qualm'', and ''Shit Creek Review''. He taught a master class at
University of Kent
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
. He was a judge for the 9th Poetry on the Lake Competition, 2009.
He read at
Lamar University
Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...
.
He read at the 9th annual Sarah Lawrence College Poetry Festival 2012.
He was married to Doreen Roberts, who taught at the
University of Kent
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
; they had two daughters, Ellie and Katie.
Awards
* 1988
Cholmondeley Award
The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...
* 2004 The Silver Wyvern, Poetry on the Lake
* 2009 Eleanor Room Poetry Award Lamar University
* 2011 Literary Review £5000 Poetry Prize
Bibliography
Poetry
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;Anthologies
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;List of poems
Non-fiction
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References
External links
About John Whitworth
at Poetry Archive
The Poetry Archive is a free, web-based library formed to hold recordings of English language poets reading their own work. The Archive holds over 20000 poems and keeps the recordings safe and accessible so that current and future visitors can ...
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John Whitworth Poems in ''Qualm''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitworth, James
1945 births
2019 deaths
British poets
British male poets
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford
Quadrant (magazine) people