- U. A. Fanthorpe
Ursula Askham Fanthorpe (born 1929 in
Kent ) is a significant Englishpoet .She was educated in
Surrey and atSt Anne's College, Oxford , where she received a first-class degree inEnglish language and literature, and subsequently taught English at [http://www.cheltladiescollege.org/welcome/index.asp Cheltenham Ladies' College] for sixteen years. She then abandoned a respectable salary for jobs as a secretary, receptionist and hospital clerk inBristol , after training as a counsellor; this experience pitchforked her into poetry.Her first volume of poetry, "Side Effects", was published in 1978. She was 'Writer-in-Residence' in Lancaster from 1983–'85, and after that, [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/culturalquarter/northern_writers.pdf Northern Arts Fellow] at Durham and Newcastle. In 1994, she became the first woman in 315 years to be nominated for the post of Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In 1987 Fanthorpe went
freelance , giving readings around the country and occasionally abroad. Many of her poems are for two voices, and in her readings, the other voice is that of Bristolacademic andteacher R. V. (Rosie) Bailey, who has also been her partner for many years. Her nine collections of poems were published by [http://www.peterloopoets.co.uk/ Peterloo Poets] ; her "Collected Poems" came out in 2005. Fanthorpe is a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature , and was made CBE in 2001 for services to poetry. In 2003 she received theQueen's Gold Medal for Poetry .External links
* [http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=157# Fanthorpe reading] her own poetry at The Poetry Archive
* [http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth180 The British Arts Council's Contemporary Writers page]
* [http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/interviews/article93838.ece Article with biographical information] from the "Independent" Online
* [http://www.peterloopoets.com/html/u_a__fanthorpe.html Fanthorpe's page at the Peterloo Poets site]
* [http://undertheedgearts.org.uk/articles?article=7 A sketch] of Fanthorpe and Bailey giving a reading
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