Harry Guest (born Henry Bayly Guest; 6 October 1932 – 20 March 2021) was a British poet born in Wales.

Life and career

Harry Guest was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and read Modern Languages at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He wrote a thesis on Mallarmé at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. At Trinity Hall he co-edited the poetry magazine ''Chequer'', which continued for eleven issues and published poems by

Thom Gunn Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, even after moving towards a looser, ...

Anne Stevenson Anne Stevenson (January 3, 1933 – September 14, 2020) was an American-British poet and writer and recipient of a Lannan Literary Award. Life Stevenson was the first daughter of Louise Destler Stevenson and philosopher Charles Stevenson and w ...

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

, and

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...

, though there is no evidence to suggest he met Plath or Hughes. From 1955-66, he taught at

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

and

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

, and then moved to Japan, becoming a lecturer in English at

Yokohama National University , mottoeng = Initiative for Global Arts & Sciences , established = 1876 (chartered 1949) , type = National , president = Izuru Umehara , city = Yokohama, Kanagawa , country = Japan , undergrad = 7,298 as of 1 May 2020 , postgrad = 2,302 a ...

. He returned to England in 1972 and was Head of French at

Exeter School Exeter School is an independent co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. In 2019, there were around 200 pupils in the Junior School and 700 in the Senior School. History The School traces its ...

until his retirement in 1991. A selection of his poetry was included in

Penguin Modern Poets ''Penguin Modern Poets'' was a series of 27 poetry books published by Penguin Books in the 1960s and 1970s, each containing work by three contemporary poets (mostly but not exclusively British and American). The series was begun in 1962 and publis ...

16. He was an Honorary Research Fellow at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

and was awarded an honorary doctorate (LittD) by

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

in 1998. Apart from his many collections of poetry, he is well known as a translator from the French and Japanese, and has published several novels and non-fiction books including the ''Traveller's Literary Companion to Japan'' (1994) and ''The Artist on the Artist'' (2000). His translations include a selected poems of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, ''The Distance, The Shadows'' (2002) and ''Post-War Japanese Poetry'' (with Lynn Guest and Kajima Shôzô, 1972). He lived in

Exeter 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 was married to the historical novelist Lynn Guest, they have two children.The Writers of Wales Database
academi.org Harry Guest

Works

*''A Different Darkness'', London: Outposts, 1964 *''Arrangements'', Northwood, UK: Anvil, 1968 *''The Cutting-Room'', London: Anvil, 1970 *''The Place'', Northamptonshire, UK: Sceptre, 1971 *''Mountain Journal'', Sheffield, UK: Rivelin, 1975 *''A House Against the Night'', London: Anvil, 1976 *''English Poems'', London: Words, 1976 *''Days'', London: Anvil, 1978 *''Elegies'', Durham, UK: Pig, 1980 *''Lost and Found'', London: Anvil, 1983 *''The Emperor of Outer Space'', Durham, UK: Pig, 1983 *''Lost Pictures'', Exeter, UK: Albertine, 1991 *''Coming to Terms'', London: Anvil, 1994 *''So Far'', Exeter, UK: Stride, 1998 *''Versions'', Nether Stowey, UK: Odyssey, 1999 *''A Puzzling Harvest, Collected Poems 1955-2000'', London: Anvil, 2002 *''Time After Time'', Exeter, UK: Albertine, 2005 *''Comparisons & Conversions'', Exeter, UK: Shearsman, 2009 *''Some Times'', London: Anvil, 2010

References

External links

The Writers of Wales DatabaseHarry Guest
Anvil Press

Shearsman Titles *Translated Penguin Book - at
Penguin First Editions
reference site of early first edition Penguin Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guest, Harry 1932 births 2021 deaths Academic staff of Yokohama National University English male poets