- Blake Morrison
Philip Blake Morrison (born
8 October 1950 ) is a Britishpoet andauthor who has published in a wide range offiction andnon-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs "And When Did You Last See Your Father?". He has also written a study of theJames Bulger murder, "As If". Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing atGoldsmiths, University of London . He is a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature .His new novel is "South of the River".
Life and career
Morrison was born in
Skipton ,North Yorkshire [cite web
title = Blake Morrison
publisher = The British Council
url = http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth75
accessdate = 2007-07-10] to an English father and an Irish mother. His parents were both physicians; his mother's maiden name was Agnes O'Shea, but her husband persuaded her to change "Agnes" to "Kim". The details of his mother's life in Ireland, to which he had not been privy, formed the basis for his autobiographical novel, "Things My Mother Never Told Me".Blake Morrison attended
Ermysted's Grammar School before going on to study English Literature at theUniversity of Nottingham and UCL. He worked for the "Times Literary Supplement " (1978-81)' and was literary editor of both "The Observer " (1981-89) and the "Independent on Sunday " (1989-95). Morrison's early writing career outside of journalism was as a poet and poetry critic. He became a full-time writer in 1995 and has since produced novels and volumes of autobiography as well as plays, libretti, and writing for television. He has contributed articles to "The New Yorker ", the "London Review of Books ", the "New Statesman ", the "New York Times " and "Poetry Review " and since 2001 he has written regularly for "The Guardian ". In 2003 he became Professor of Creative and Life Writing atGoldsmiths College , London, and in 2008 he became Chair ofThe Reader Organisation , the UK centre for research and promotion of reading as a therapeutic activity.Morrison is married, with three children, and lives in Blackheath,
London . He is a keen supporter of Burnley Football Club.Published works
His first book was "The Movement: English Poetry and Fiction of the 1950s" (
Oxford University Press , 1980). This was followed in 1982 by a critical guide toSeamus Heaney 's poetry. Also in 1982 he co-edited "The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry" withAndrew Motion . His first book of poetry, "Dark Glasses" was published byChatto and Windus in 1984. Other published works include "Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper" (1986), written in Yorkshire dialect and "Pendle Witches" (1996), illustrated withetchings byPaula Rego . His poems have also appeared in severalanthologies , including "Penguin Modern Poets 1" (1995).His first novel was "The Justification of
Johann Gutenberg " (Chatto & Windus, 2000); his most recent "South of the River" was published in April 2007.Film
"
And When Did You Last See Your Father? " has recently been made into a film starringJim Broadbent as his father,Juliet Stevenson as his mother,Gina McKee as his wife,Sarah Lancashire as Aunty Beaty, andColin Firth and Matthew Beard playing Blake Morrison himself as an adult and teenager, respectively.It was directed by
Anand Tucker , produced byElizabeth Karlsson , with a screenplay byDavid Nicholls . Filming took place inCromford ,Derbyshire and the surrounding area. The film was released in 2007.The TV series of his new novel "South of the River" is being made by
World Productions and adapted by acclaimedscreenwriter Danny Brocklehurst .Bibliography
*"The Movement: English Poetry and Fiction of the 1950s" (Oxford University Press, 1980)
*"Seamus Heaney" (Methuen, 1982)
*"The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry" (co-editor with Andrew Motion) (Penguin, 1982)
*"Dark Glasses" (Chatto & Windus, 1984)
*"The Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper (and Other Poems)" (Chatto & Windus, 1987)
*"The Yellow House" (illustrations by Helen Craig) (Walker Books, 1987)
*"And When Did You Last See Your Father?" (Granta , 1993)
*"Penguin Modern Poets 1" (Morrison,James Fenton ,Kit Wright ) (Penguin, 1995)
*"Mind Readings: Writers' Journeys Through Mental States" (co-editor with Sara Dunn andMichèle Roberts ) (Minerva, 1996)
*"Pendle Witches" (illustrations by Paula Rego) (Enitharmon Press, 1996)
*"The Cracked Plot" (Samuel French, 1996)
*"As If" (Granta, 1997)
*"Too True" (Granta, 1998)
*"Selected Poems" (Granta, 1999)
*"The Justification of Johann Gutenberg" (Chatto & Windus, 2000)
*"Things My Mother Never Told Me" (Chatto & Windus, 2002)
*"Antigone and Oedipus" (Northern Broadsides, 2003)
*"South of the River" (Chatto & Windus, 2007)Awards
* 1980
Eric Gregory Award
* 1985Dylan Thomas Award
* 1985Somerset Maugham Award for "Dark Glasses"
* 1988E. M. Forster Award
* 1993Esquire/Volvo/Waterstone's Non-Fiction Book Award for "And When Did You Last See Your Father?"
* 1994 J.R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography for "And When Did You Last See Your Father?"References
External links
* [http://www.blakemorrison.com/ Blake Morrison's official web site]
* [http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth75 British Council: Blake Morrison]
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