John Betjeman (Poet to Poet) - Softcover

Betjeman, Sir John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571230997 ISBN 13: 9780571230990

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2006

Synopsis

In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past. By their choice of poems and by the personal and critical reactions they express in their prefaces, the editors offer insights into their own work as well as providing an accessible and passionate introduction to the most important poets in our literature.

Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) was born in Highgate, the son of a manufacturer of Dutch descent. After university he joined the staff of the Architectural Review, thereafter working as a journalist and, during the Second World War, for various government departments. His first book of poems was Mount Zion (1931), followed by numerous collections, notably A Few Late Chrysanthemeumns (1954). His poetry enjoyed immense popularity, as did his personality, and his knighthood in 1969 and appointment as Poet Laureate in 1972 were almost universally welcomed.

About this title

Book Description:

A new edition of John Betjeman poems, selected by Hugo Williams, published to celebrate the John Betjeman Centenary in 2006.

About the Author:

Poet and architectural critic, Sir John Betjeman was born in North London in 1906. He was taught by T S Eliot at Highgate Junior School and was rusticated from Magdalen College Oxford for failing Divinity. He published several poetry collections, including New Bats in Old Belfries and A Few Late Chrysanthemums, and several works on architecture. His Collected Poems was published in 1958 and the first edition sold over 100,000 copies. He was knighted in 1969 and appointed Poet Laureate in 1972. He died in Cornwall in 1984.

Hugo Williams was born in 1942 and grew up in Sussex. He worked on the London Magazine from 1961 to 1970, since when he has earned his living as a journalist and travel writer. Billy's Rain won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 1999. His Collected Poems was published by Faber in 2002 and his last collection, I Knew the Bride, was published in 2014 and shortlisted for the Forward and T. S. Eliot prizes. In 2004 he received the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0571230997
• ISBN 13: 9780571230990
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112
• Editor: Williams Hugo