Glyn Maxwell

Glyn Maxwell (born in 1962) is a British poet.

Early life

Maxwell's parents are Welsh (his mother acted in the premiere of Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" both in the West End and on Broadway) but he was born and grew up in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. He studied English at Worcester College, Oxford. He began an MLitt there, but in 1987 moved to America to study poetry and drama with Derek Walcott at Boston University.

Poetry and other work

His three earliest collections of poetry, "Tale Of The Mayor's Son" (1990), "Out of the Rain" (1992), "Rest For The Wicked" (1995) are collected as "The Boys at Twilight: Poems 1990-1995" (2000).

in October 2008.

His first novel "Blue Burneau" (1994) was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Prize and the book "Moon Country", published in 1996, describes a visit to Iceland with Simon Armitage. His second novel "The Girl Who Was Going To Die" is published by Cape in March 2008.

His play "Liberty", about the French Revolution, will premiere at Shakespeare's Globe in the 2008 season (dir. Guy Retallack). "The Only Girl in the World" is revived at the Arcola in April (dir. Alex Clifton); "Mimi and the Stalker" premieres in London in 2008, produced by Giudecca, (dir. Michael Gieleta) at theatre503, London; "The Lifeblood" is revived in New York, opening February 1st (dir. Bob Hupp) with Phoenix Theatre Ensemble at the Connolly Theater.

"The Lifeblood", concerning the last days of Mary Stuart, was British Theatre Guide's 'Play of the Fringe' at Edinburgh in 2004. Other plays include "Wolfpit", about two green children said to have appeared in Suffolk in the 12th century (Edinburgh 1996; New York 2006), "The Forever Waltz", a reworking of the Orpheus-Eurydice story (New York 2005; Edinburgh 2005), and "The Only Girl in the World", a play about Mary Kelly, the last victim of Jack the Ripper (London 2001). He contributed the fantasy "The Black Remote" to the National Theatre's Connections series in 2006. He is the Resident Playwright for New York's Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. His earliest plays were staged in the garden of his parents' home in Welwyn in the early 1990s, but were reviewed in the national press. He has also written opera libretti, including "The Girl of Sand", composed by Elena Langer and performed at the Almeida Opera Festival in 2004, and "The Birds" (after Aristophanes), composed by Edward Dudley Hughes and performed by I Fagiolini at the City of London Festival in 2005.

His verse monologue, "The Best Man" was turned into a feature film starring Danny Swanson.

He has taught at Amherst College, Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University and The New School in New York City, and for the Poetry School in London. He was Poetry Editor of "The New Republic" from 2001 to 2007. He has one daughter, Alfreda (b.1997) and has recently returned to the UK after ten years in the USA.

External links

* [http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth236 Author biography at contemporarywriters.com]
* [http://www.thebestmanmovie.co.uk Website for the film version of "The Best Man"]
* [http://www.qualm.co.uk/mainpr.html#gmaxwell Poem, in "Qualm"]