Andrew Motion 251950 224789393 2008-07-10T12:38:53Z Flaming Ferrari 2156347 {{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] --> |image = Replace this image male.svg <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see [[WP:NONFREE]] --> |imagesize = 150px | | name = Andrew Motion | caption = | birthdate = {{birth date and age|1952|10|26|df=y}} | birthplace = | deathplace = | occupation = [[Poet]] | movement = | influences = | influenced = }} '''Andrew Motion''', [[Royal Society of Literature|FRSL]], (born [[26 October]] [[1952]]) is an [[England|English]] [[poet]], [[novelist]] and [[biographer]], who is the current [[Poet Laureate]] for the [[United Kingdom]]. Raised in [[Stisted]] near [[Braintree, Essex|Braintree]] in [[Essex, England|Essex]], he was educated at [[Radley College]]. When he was 17, his mother had a riding accident and spent the next nine years in and out of a coma before she died. In the years that followed, he read English at [[University College, Oxford]], and studied the poetry of [[Edward Thomas]] for his MLitt. degree. Motion has said that he tried to keep his memory of his mother alive through poetry. Andrew Motion is a member of the [[Arts Council of England]] and a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]]. Beside the prizes mentioned above, he has won the Arvon/Observer Prize, the [[John Llewellyn Rhys Prize]] and the [[Dylan Thomas Prize]]. He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at [[Royal Holloway, University of London|Royal Holloway and Bedford New College]], [[University of London]]. His 1993 biography of [[Philip Larkin]] was responsible for bringing about a substantial revision of Larkin's reputation. In 2003, Motion wrote a poem in protest at [[Invasion of Iraq]] called [http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1215.html "Regime Change;"] the poem is told from the third person [[point of view (literature)|point of view]], showing a speech made by [[Death (personification)|Death]] in the streets of Iraq.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2912557.stm BBC News: "Poet laureate writes Iraq lament"] </ref> In 2005 he helped to bring online [http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do The Poetry Archive] containing both historic and contemporary recordings of poets reciting their own work. In February 2008 he was commissioned to write a poem in the honour of [[Harry Patch]], who is the last suriviving [[Tommy Atkins|Tommy]] to have fought in [[World War I]]. It was first read at a special event at the Bishop's Palace in Wells where it was received by Harry Patch.<ref>{{cite web|title=Poem honours WWI veteran aged 109|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7279861.stm|publisher=BBC News Online|date=2008-03-07|accessdate=2008-03-07}}</ref> In July 2008 he was appointed to the position of Chairman of the [[Museums, Libraries and Archives Council]] (MLA) by the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]].<ref>[http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/5237.aspx DCMS: "Andrew Motion appointed new Chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council"]</ref> ==Biography== * 1975: won the [[Newdigate prize]] for Oxford undergraduate poetry * 1976: further poetry published * 1976 - 1980: taught English at the [[University of Hull]] * 1980 - 1982: edited the ''[[Poetry Review]]'' * 1981: wins [[Arvon Foundation]]'s International Poetry Competition with "The Letter" * 1982: edits, with [[Blake Morrison]], the ''[[Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry]]'' * 1982 - 1989: Editorial Director and Poetry Editor at [[Chatto & Windus]] * 1986: ''The Lamberts'' wins the [[Somerset Maugham Award]] * 1989: Professor of Creative Writing at the [[University of East Anglia]] * 1994: ''Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life'' wins the [[1994 Whitbread Awards|Whitbread Prize for Biography]] * 1999: appointed Poet Laureate for ten years only * 2003: appointed Professor of Creative Writing at [[Royal Holloway, University of London]] ==Publications== <small>Note: this list is not complete</small> * 1972 ''Goodnestone : a sequence'' (a series of 18 untitled poems) * 1978 ''The Pleasure Steamers'' - poetry * 1981 ''Independence'' - poetry * 1986 ''Elizabeth Bishop (Chatterton Lectures on an English Poet)'' * 1987 ''Natural Causes'' - poetry * 1988 ''Philip Larkin (Contemporary Writers)'' * 1989 ''The Pale Companion'' - fiction * 1992 ''Famous for the Creatures'' * 1993 ''Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life'' (biography) * 1995 ''The Lamberts: George, Constant and Kit'' (biography) * 1995 ''The Price of Everything'' * 1997 ''Salt Water'' - poetry * 1998 ''Keats'' (biography) * 1998 ''Take 20'' * 1998 ''Sarah Raphael: Strip!'' * 1999 ''Selected Poems 1976-1997'' * 1999 ''Babel'' * 2000 ''Wainewright the Poisoner: The Confessions of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright'' (biographical novel) * 2002 ''Public Property'' (poetry) * 2003 ''The Invention of Dr Cake'' * 2005 ''Spring Wedding'' (poem in honour of the wedding of the [[Prince of Wales]] and [[Camilla Parker Bowles]]) * 2007 ''The Five Acts of Harry Patch'' (poetry) Dates unclear: * ''Secret narratives'' * ''Dangerous play: poems, 1974-1984'' * ''Love in a life'' * ''Firsthand'' Edited works / Introductions: * ''Thomas Hardy: Selected Poems'' (Everyman Library) (Editor) * 1994 ''New Writing 3'' by Andrew Motion, Candice Rodd (Editor) (reprinted '94) * 1981 ''Poetry of Edward Thomas'' * ''Verses of the Poets Laureate: From John Dryden to Andrew Motion'' by Hilary Laurie (Compiler), Andrew Motion (Introduction) (Paperback - September 1999) * 1982 ''The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry'' by Ed. Blake Morrison and Andrew Motion * 1981 ''Selected Poems: William Barnes'' (Penguin Classics) Andrew Motion (Editor) * ''Here to Eternity: An Anthology of Poetry'' by Andrew Motion (Editor) * ''Paper Scissors Stone: New Writing from the MA in Creative Writing at [[University of East Anglia|UEA]]'' by Andrew Motion (Introduction) (Paperback) * ''May Anthology 2002 Poetry and Prose'' by Andrew Motion (Editor), Nick Cave (Editor) (Paperback) * ''The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction & Poetry'' by Julia Bell (Editor), Andrew Motion (Foreword) * [[The Mays]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/obituaries/queen_mother/funeral_procession/poet.stm An Elegy to HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother] (see [[Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon]])—at [[BBC News Online]]. * [http://www.arvonfoundation.org/competition Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition] * {{contemporary writers|id=76}} {{start box}} {{succession box|title=British [[Poet Laureate]]|before=[[Ted Hughes]]|after=current incumbent|years=1998–present}} {{end box}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Motion, Andrew}} [[Category:English poets]] [[Category:English Poets Laureate]] [[Category:English biographers]] [[Category:English novelists]] [[Category:English book editors]] [[Category:Academics of the University of East Anglia]] [[Category:Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London]] [[Category:Alumni of University College, Oxford]] [[Category:People from Essex]] [[Category:1952 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People associated with the University of Hull]] [[Category:Old Radleians]] [[Category:Honorary Fellows of University College, Oxford]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]] [[Category:Place of birth missing]] [[bn:অ্যান্ড্রু মোশন]] [[fr:Andrew Motion]] [[he:אנדרו מושן]]