Sean O'Brien

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(born 19 December 1952) is a British poet, critic and playwright. Prizes he has won include the

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

(1979), the

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

(1984), the

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 ...

(1988), the

Forward Poetry Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

(1995, 2001 and 2007) and the T. S. Eliot Prize (2007). He is one of only four poets (the others being

Ted Hughes Edward James 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 writers. He wa ...

John Burnside John Burnside (19 March 1955 – 29 May 2024) was a Scottish writer. He was one of four poets (with Ted Hughes, Sean O'Brien and Jason Allen-Paisant) to have won the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for a single book – in th ...

and

Jason Allen-Paisant Jason Allen-Paisant (born 1980) is a Jamaican poet, writer and academic, based in the UK. His second collection of poems, ''Self-Portrait as Othello'', won the 2023 T. S. Eliot Prize and the 2023 Forward Prize for Best Collection. Biography ...

) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same collection of poems ('' The Drowned Book''). Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, O'Brien grew up in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, and was educated at

Hymers College Hymers College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Kingston upon Hull, located on the site of the old Hull Botanical Gardens, Botanical Gardens. It is one of the leading schools in the East Riding of ...

and

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

. He has lived since 1990 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, where he teaches at the university. He was the Weidenfeld Visiting Professor at St. Anne's College, Oxford, for 2016–17.

Career

O'Brien's book of essays on contemporary poetry, ''The Deregulated Muse'' (Bloodaxe), was published in 1998, as was his anthology ''The Firebox: Poetry in Britain and Ireland after 1945'' (Picador). ''Cousin Coat: Selected Poems 1976–2001'' (Picador) was published in 2002. His new verse version of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's '' Inferno'' was published by Picador in October 2006. O'Brien's six collections of poetry to date have all won awards. In 2007, he won the

Northern Rock Foundation Northern Rock Foundation was an independent charity and company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1997 when the Northern Rock company was floated on the stock exchange. Following the near-collapse of the bank and its na ...

Writer's Award,

Forward Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for Best Collection and the T. S. Eliot Prize for ''The Drowned Book'' (Picador, 2007). This was the second time a poet had been awarded the Forward and the Eliot prizes in the same year. In 2006, he was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

, and was previously Professor of Poetry at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

. He is a Vice-President 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 ...

. He was co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Printer's Devil'', contributes reviews to newspapers and magazines including ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' 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 ...

'' and is a regular broadcaster on radio. His writing for television includes "Cousin Coat", a poem-film in ''Wordworks'' (

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

, 1991); "Cantona", a poem-film in ''On the Line'' (

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

, 1994); ''Strong Language'', a 45-minute poem-film (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, 1997) and ''The Poet Who Left the Page'', a profile of

Simon Armitage Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds. He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...

(

BBC4 BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, 2002). Other significant work includes a radio adaptation for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

of " We" by

Yevgeny Zamyatin Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin ( rus, Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ zɐˈmʲætʲɪn; – 10 March 1937), sometimes anglicized as Eugene Zamyatin, was a Russian author of science fictio ...

. O'Brien was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2007.

Awards and honours

*1979 – Eric Gregory Award *1984 – Somerset Maugham Award – ''The Indoor Park'' *1988 – Cholmondeley Award *1992 – Northern Arts Literary Fellowship *1993 – E. M. Forster Award *1995 – Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) – ''Ghost Train'' *2001 – Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) – ''Downriver'' *2001 – Northern Writer of the Year Award *2001 – T. S. Eliot Prize (shortlist) – ''Downriver'' *2006 – Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem for ''Fantasia on a Theme of James Wright'') *2007 – Northern Rock Foundation Writer's Award *2007 – Forward Poetry Prize (Best Collection) – ''The Drowned Book'' *2007 – T. S. Eliot Prize – ''The Drowned Book'' *2007 –

fellowship *2012 –

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is a Canadian poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. I ...

International shortlist – ''November''

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections * 1983: ''The Indoor Park'' (Bloodaxe) * 1987: ''The Frighteners'' (Bloodaxe) * 1989: ''Boundary Beach '' (Ulsterman Publications) * 1991: ''HMS Glasshouse'' (Oxford University Press) * 1993: ''A Rarity'' (Carnivorous Arpeggio) * 1995: ''Ghost Train'' (Oxford University Press) * 1995: ''Penguin Modern Poets 5'' (with

and

Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse ...

) (Penguin) * 1997: ''The Ideology'' (Smith/Doorstep) * 2001: ''Downriver'' (Picador) * 2002: ''Cousin Coat: Selected Poems 1976–2001 '' (Picador) * 2002: ''Rivers'' (with John Kinsella and Peter Porter) (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Australia) * 2006: ''Inferno: a verse version of

's Inferno'' (Picador) * 2007: '' The Drowned Book'' (Picador) * 2009: ''Night Train'' (with artist Birtley Aris) (Flambard Press) * 2011: ''November'' (Picador) * 2015: ''The Beautiful Librarians'' (Picador) * 2018: ''Europa'' (Picador) *2019: Contributor to ''A New Divan, A Lyrical Dialogue between East and West'', Gingko Library, *2020: ''It Says Here'' (Picador) *2022: ''Embark'' (Picador) ;Anthologies (edited) * 1998: ''The Firebox: Poetry in Britain and Ireland after 1945'' (editor) (Picador) * 2008: ''

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

: poems selected by Sean O'Brien'' (Poet to Poet series, Faber and Faber) ;List of poems

Plays

*2000: ''Laughter When We're Dead'' *2001: ''My Last Barmaid'' *2001: ''Downriver'', cowritten with

Keith Morris Keith Morris (born September 18, 1955) is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at t ...

*2002: ''The Birds: a new verse version of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

' Birds'' (Methuen) *2003: ''Keepers of the Flame'' (Methuen) *2003: ''Live Theatre: Six Plays from the North East'' (with Cecil Taylor,

Tom Hadaway Tom Hadaway (18 March 1923 – 3 March 2005) was a writer for stage and television, born in North Shields in North East England. Early life Hadaway was born on Howdon Road, North Shields on 18 March 1923. After leaving school, aged 14, he worke ...

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for the sitcom ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' and th ...

, Lee Hall, Julia Darling) (Methuen)

Novels

* 2008: ''Afterlife'' (Picador) * 2016: ''Once Again Assembled Here'' (Picador)

Short fiction

;Collections * 2005: ''Ellipsis 1: Short Stories by Sean O'Brien, Jean Sprackland and Tim Cooke'' (Comma Press, ) * 2005: ''Phantoms at the Phil'' (with

Chaz Brenchley Chaz Brenchley (born 4 January 1959 in Oxford) is a British writer of novels and short stories, associated with the genres of horror, crime and fantasy. Some of his work has been published under the pseudonyms of Ben Macallan and Daniel Fox. Cha ...

and Gail-Nina Anderson) (Side Real/Northern Gothic, ) * 2006: ''Phantoms at the Phil- The Second Proceedings'' (with

and Gail-Nina Anderson) (Side Real/Northern Gothic, ) * 2007: ''Phantoms at the Phil- The Third Proceedings'' (with

and Gail-Nina Anderson) (Side Real/Northern Gothic, ) * 2008: ''The Silence Room'' (Comma Press, ) * 2018: ''Quartier Perdu'' (Comma Press, )

Literary criticism

* 1998: ''The Deregulated Muse: Essays on Contemporary British and Irish Poetry'' (Bloodaxe)

Notes

Sources

*''The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry'' ed. Ian Hamilton (OUP, 1996) *''The Idea of North'' Peter Davidson (Reaktion Books, 2005)

External links

*
Profile at Poetry Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Sean 1952 births Living people Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge British anthologists British republicans English literary critics English male non-fiction writers English male poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature T. S. Eliot Prize winners The New Yorker people Writers from Kingston upon Hull