William Oxley (1939 – February 4, 2020) was an English poet. In addition to 31 poetry publications, he was also responsible for a range of books covering literary criticism, philosophy, fiction, plays and biography.

Biography

Oxley began his career working as a messenger boy in Salford. He then became an articled clerk at Willett, Son & Garner, and qualified as a chartered accountant there. He began to write poetry after moving to London and working in the city, first for Deloitte and then Lazard. Oxley's poems were widely published throughout the world, in magazines and journals as diverse as ''

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'', ''

The Formalist ''The Formalist: A Journal of Metrical Poetry'' was a literary periodical, founded and edited by William Baer, which was published twice a year from 1990 to the fall/winter issue of 2004. The headquarters of the magazine was in Evansville, Indi ...

'' (USA), ''

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'', ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', ''

The London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. 1732–1785 ''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...

'', ''Stand'', ''

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'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' and ''

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''. Following the publication of a number of his works on the Continent in the 1980s and 1990s, Oxley was dubbed ''one of Britain's first Europoets''. He read his work on UK and European radio and was said to be the only British poet to have read in

Shangri-la Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ge ...

, Nepal. He published his first volume of poetry in 1967, and his latest volume in 2015. He founded the magazine ''Littack'' (Literature Attack) in 1972, and also edited the poetry publications ''New Headland'' (1969–74), ''Laissez-Faire'' (1971–75), ''Orbis'' (1972–74), ''The Village Review'' (1973–74), ''Poetry Newsletter'' (1976–78), ''The Littack Supplement'' (1976-80) and ''Lapis Lazuli'' (1977–78). He also co-edited the newsletter of the ''Long Poem Group'' for several years, as its founder. In 1976, he moved to Devon with his family, and focused on poetry. His wife Patricia founded the literary journal '' Acumen'' in 1985, with William as treasurer and interviews editor. He became a member of the general council of the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

in 1990, and opposed its commercialisation. In 2000, William was poet laureate for

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

, the district covering

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...

, where he had moved to. This led to him and Patricia organising the Torbay Poetry Festival from 2001 to 2019. A limited edition print employing lines from his epic poem, ''A Map of Time'', was chosen by the Department of Cartography at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

to use, with appropriate illustration, in their Annual Broadsheet for 2002. Another of his long poems, ''Over the Hills of Hampstead'', was awarded first prize by the online long poem magazine, ''Echoes of Gilgamesh''. In 2008, he received the Torbay ArtsBase Award for Literature. His work is featured on various websites, including, from its beginning, Anne Stewart's prestigious www.poetrypf.co.uk and www.creativetorbay.com. His archive was acquired by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

in 2014.William Oxley's archive: British Library

Personal life

Oxley met Patricia Holmes through the Manchester Shakespeare Players, and they married in 1963. They had two daughters, Elizabeth Helen (b. 1966) and Katie Sarah (b. 1969). After originally settling in London, they moved to Brixham in South Devon with Patricia's mother in 1976. He died in February 2020, aged 80, survived by his wife and daughters.

Publications

*''The Dark Structures'', London, Mitre Press, 1967. *''Mirrors of the Sea'', London, Quarto Press, 1973. *''The Notebook of Hephaestus and Other Poems'', Kinross, Lomond Press, 1981. *''A Map of Time'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1984. *''The Triviad and Other Satires'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1984. *''The Mansands Trilogy'', Richmond, Surrey, Keepsake Press, 1988. *''Mad Tom on Tower Hill'', Exeter, Stride, 1989. *''Forest Sequence'', Bath, Mammon Press, 1991. *''The Patient Reconstruction of Paradise'', Brixham, Devon, Acumen Publications, 1991. *''The Playboy Salzburg'', University of Salzburg, 1992. *''In The Drift of Words'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 1992. *''Cardboard Troy'', Exeter, Stride, 1993. *''The Hallsands Tragedy'', Plymouth, Westwords, 1993. *''Collected Longer Poems'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1994. *''The Green Crayon Man'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 1997. *''Reclaiming the Lyre, New and Selected Poems'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 2000. *''Namaste, Nepal Poems'', London, Hearing Eye, 2004. *''London Visions'', Bristol, Bluechrome, 2005. *''Poems Antibes'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 2006. *''Sunlight in a Champagne Glass'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 2009. *''ISCA ‒ Exeter Moments'', Brixham, Ember Press 2013. *''Collected and New Poems'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 2014. *''Walking Sequence and Other Poems'', Beaworthy, Indigo Dreams, 2015.

Translations

*''Poems of a Black Orpheus'', Leopold S. Senghor, London, Menard Press, 1981. *''Ndessé'', Leopold S. Senghor, London, Menard Press, 1981. *''She Chases Me Relentlessly'', Leopold S. Senghor, London, Menard Press, 1986. *''Poems from the Divan of Hafez'', (with Parvin Loloi), Torbay, Acumen Publications, 2013.

Other publications

*''Synopthegms of a Prophet'', Brixham, Devon, Ember Press, 1981. *''The Idea and its Imminence'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1982. *''Of Human Consciousness'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1982. *''The Cauldron of Inspiration'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1983. *''The Inner Tapestry'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1985. *''On Poets and Poetry: Letters Between a Father and Son'', with Harry Oxley, edited by Patricia Oxley, Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1988. *''Distinguishing Poetry'', edited by Glyn Pursglove, Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1989. *''Three Plays'', Salzburg, University of Salzburg, 1996. *''No Accounting for Paradise : an autobiography'', Ware, Rockingham Press 1999. *''Firework Planet : children's novel'', Torbay, Acumen Publications, 2000. *''Working Backwards: A Poet's Notebook'', Acumen Publications, 2008. *''Everyman His Own God'', Brixham, Beugger Books, 2010. *''Democratica'', Brixham, Beugger Books, 2011. *''The Language Game and Children'', Brixham, Beugger Books, 2012. *''On and Off Parnassus'', Ware, Rockingham Press, 2018.

Editor

*''Completing the Picture'' – (Anthology), Exeter, Stride Publications, 1995. *''Long Poem Group'' Newsletter – (issues 1–12) (with

Sebastian Barker Sebastian Smart Barker FRSL (16 April 1945 – 31 January 2014) was a British poet notable for a visionary manner that has been compared to William Blake in its use of the long ecstatic line and its "ability to write lyric poetry which used simp ...

), Torbay, Acumen Publications, 1995 – 2002. *''The Residency'' (Nos 1–2 only) Torbay, Acumen Publications, 2000 – 2001. *''Making a Splash'', prize-winners' anthology (with

Penelope Shuttle Penelope Shuttle (born 12 May 1947) is a British poet. Life Born in Staines, Middlesex, Shuttle left school at 17. She wrote her first novel at the age of 20. She has lived in Falmouth, Cornwall since 1970. She married the poet Peter Redgrove (1 ...

), Torbay, Acumen Publications, 2001. *''Modern Poets of Europe'' (with Patricia Oxley), Kathmandu, Nepal, Spiny Babbler, 2004.

Biography

Personal life

Publications

Translations

Other publications

Editor

Further reading

Bibliographies

Critical studies

References

Further reading