Paul Henry (b. Aberystwyth, 1959) is a Welsh poet, songwriter and broadcaster. His poetry collection ''Boy Running'' was shortlisted for the

Wales Book of the Year The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently ad ...

award in 2016.

Biography

Starting out as a singer-songwriter, Henry's first collection ''Time Pieces'' was published by

Seren Press Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, a small independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from WalesFelicity Wood (23 August 2013). Rhyme and reason: The poetry market is a notoriously ...

in 1991, winning a Gregory Award. In 1992, he attended Joseph Brodsky's poetry masterclass at the Hay Festival, since which time a further eight books have appeared. His poems have been widely anthologised and can be found in journals such as ''

Poetry Review ''Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Emily Berry. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Motion and Maurice R ...

'' 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 ...

''. They have also featured on BBC Radio 4's ''

Poetry Please ''Poetry Please'' is a weekly radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in which listeners request poems, which are then read by a cast of actors. It is broadcast on Sunday afternoons and repeated the following Saturday night. The current presenter ...

''. ''The Brittle Sea, New & Selected Poems'' was recently reprinted by Seren in the UK and by Dronequill in India, under the title ''The Black Guitar''. ''Mari d’Ingrid'', Gerard Augustin's translation of his fifth collection, ''Ingrid’s Husband'', is published by

L’Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind i ...

. He was described by the late U. A. Fanthorpe as "a poet's poet who combines a sense of the music of words with an endlessly inventive imagination". Henry teaches

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 ...

at writers' centres and has lectured at the

University of South Wales The University of South Wales ( cy, Prifysgol De Cymru) is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wa ...

. He has read and performed his songs at venues across Europe, the USA and India. His co-readers have included Paul Muldoon, Carol Ann Duffy, Don Paterson and Vikram Seth. Henry is a featured poet in the UK pages of Poetry International and in 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 ...

authors' pages. More recently, he has written and presented arts programmes for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4.

Works

Poetry: * 2011: ''The Black Guitar - Selected Poems'', Dronequill (India) * 2010: ''The Brittle Sea: New & Selected Poems'', Seren * 2008: ''Mari d'Ingrid'', L'Harmattan (tr. Gerard Augustin) * 2007: ''Ingrid’s Husband'', Seren * 2004: ''The Breath of Sleeping Boys & other poems'', Carreg Gwalch * 2002: ''The Slipped Leash'', Seren * 1998: ''The Milk Thief'', Seren * 1996: ''Captive Audience'', Seren * 1991: ''Time Pieces'', Seren

References

External links

Personal site
1959 births People from Aberystwyth Academics of the University of Glamorgan Living people 21st-century Welsh poets 21st-century British male writers 21st-century Welsh writers {{Wales-writer-stub