Richard Marggraf Turley (born 2 August 1970) is a British literary critic, poet and novelist. He specialises in Romanticism and the poetry of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

, surveillance studies and ecocriticism. He is professor of English Literature at

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

, and between 2013 and 2018 was that institution's Professor of Engagement with the Public Imagination.

Life

Marggraf Turley was born in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

. He moved to Wales at the age of seven, was educated at

King Henry VIII School, Abergavenny (Previously: ''Ut Prosim''Latin: That I might be of service) , established = , closed = , type = State school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Head Teacher , head = Elspeth Lewis , ...

, and read English at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

Writer

He is author of three poetry collections: ''The Fossil Box'' (2007), concerned with the urgency of place and origins; ''Whiteout'' (2006), co-authored with Damian Walford Davies; and ''Wan-Hu's Flying Chair'' (2009), which won the 2010 Wales Book of the Year 'People's Choice' prize. In 2007, he won first prize in the tenth-anniversary

Keats-Shelley Prize for Poetry The Keats-Shelley Prize was inaugurated in 1998 by the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association. Its purpose is to encourage people of all ages to respond personally to the emotions aroused in them by the work of the Romantics, through rising to the cha ...

. His poem
'Elisions'
was written on the competition theme of slavery. In 2010, together with Professor Reyer Zwiggelaar and Dr Bashar Rajoub of the Computer Science department at Aberystwyth University, Marggraf Turley conducted a 'Valentine's Day experiment' using thermal imaging cameras to determine whether reading love poetry produced distinct thermal signatures on the faces of volunteers. In March 2012, new research on Keats's ode 'To Autumn', co-authored with Dr Jayne Archer and Professor Howard Thomas (Aberystwyth University), was widely reported. Archival discoveries suggested that the 'stubble-plains' of Keats's ode '

To Autumn "To Autumn" is a poem by English Romantic poet John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821). The work was composed on 19 September 1819 and published in 1820 in a volume of Keats's poetry that included ''Lamia'' and ''The Eve of St. Agne ...

' were located on St Giles's Hill, to the east of the City of Winchester, with implications for a new political reading of the poem. The part of St Giles's Hill in question now lies under a

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

. The editor of the Telegraph devoted 22 March 2012's editorial to an 'Ode to a Car Park' In 2013, research by Marggraf Turley, Archer and Thomas on the importance of Shakespeare's business dealings as a

grain merchant The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

for such plays as

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

and Coriolanus was widely reported. Their work also threw light on the significance of crop weeds such as darnel in King Lear. Marggraf Turley has written a number of books on the

Romantic poets Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18t ...

, including ''The Politics of Language in Romantic Literature'' (2002), ''Keats's Boyish Imagination'' (2004), ''Bright Stars: John Keats, Barry Cornwall and Romantic Literary Culture'' (2009), and ''Food and the Literary Imagination'', co-authored with Archer and Thomas (2015), and he is editor of ''Keats's Places'' (2018). He is also author of a historical crime novel set in Romantic London of 1810, ''The Cunning House'' (2015). In 2013, he was one of the three English-panel judges for the Wales Book of the Year.

Poetry collections

* 2009: ''Wan-Hu's Flying Chair'', Salt Press, * * 2007: ''The Fossil-Box'', Cinnamon Press, * * 2006: ''Whiteout'', co-authored with Damian Walford Davies, Parthian,

Novel

* 2015: ''The Cunning House'', Sandstone,

Critical studies

* 2018: (ed.) ''Keats's Places'', Palgrave, * 2015: (co-authored, Jayne Archer and Howard Thomas) ''Food and the Literary Imagination'', Palgrave, * 2015: ''Writing Essays: A Guide for Students in English and the Humanities'', 2nd edn, Routledge, * 2011: (ed.) ''The Writer in the Academy: Creative Interfrictions'', Boydell and Brewer, * 2009: ''Bright Stars: Keats, Barry Cornwall and Romantic Literary Culture'', Liverpool University Press, * 2006: (co-ed., Damian Walford Davies) ''The Monstrous Debt: Modalities of Romantic Influence in Twentieth-Century Literature'', Wayne State University Press, * 2004: ''Keats's Boyish Imagination'', Routledge, * 2002: ''The Politics of Language in Romantic Literature'', Palgrave Macmillan,

Awards and recognition

* 2007:

* 2010: Wales Book of the Year "People's Choice" award (sponsored by Media Wales) * 2015: ASLE/Inspire-UKI Prize Essay (with Jayne Archer and Howard Thomas)

References

External links

Richard Marggraf Turley's poem, "Elisions
''The Telegraph''
University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marggraf Turley, Richard 1970 births Living people British poets Anglo-Welsh poets Academics of Aberystwyth University British literary critics British male poets