Philip Gross

Philip Gross (born 1952) is an English poet, novelist, playwright, and academic.

Life
Philip Gross was born in 1952 at Delabole, in north Cornwall near the sea. He was the only child of Juhan Gross, an Estonian wartime refugee, and the daughter of the local village school-master. He grew up and was educated in Plymouth. In junior school he began writing stories, and when in his teens he began writing poetry. He went on to study at Sussex University, where he took his B.A. in English. He worked for a correspondence college and in several libraries (he has a diploma in library science).

In the 1980s he married his first wife, Helen. He and she had a son and a daughter. While they were living in Bristol he had his first books published. He began travelling around schools in Britain as a workshop leader. Later he joined Bath Spa University to teach Creative Studies. In 2000 he married his second wife, Zelie. In 2004 he was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan, a position he still holds. In 2007 he received his D. Litt. from the university. He lives at Penarth, near the sea. He is a Quaker Christian.

Writing
In 2009 Cinnamon Press published poetry by Philip Gross with photographs by Simon Denison, I Spy Pinhole Eye. The collection was awarded the Wales Book of the Year prize on 30 June 2010. On the 18th January 2010, Philip was announced as the 2009 winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize for his collection of poems, The Water Table.

His other poetry collections include The Ice Factory, Cat's Whisker, The Son of the Duke of Nowhere, I.D., The Wasting Game - all collected in Changes of Address: Poems 1980-98, published by Bloodaxe Books, as are Mappa Mundi and The Egg of Zero.

He has published ten novels for young people, including Going For Stone, The Lastling and The Storm Garden (Oxford University Press). He has also written plays, work for radio, a children's opera and collaborated with musicians, painters, dancers and other writers. He also wrote "Plex", a children's horror short story as part of the Point Horror series.

Recognition
He won the T.S. Eliot Prize for his collection of poems, The Water Table (2009), a Gregory Award (1981) and  the National Poetry Competition (1982).

Awards

 * 2011: Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Poetry Award
 * 2010: Wales Book of the Year
 * 2009: T.S. Eliot Prize
 * 1982: National Poetry Competition
 * 1981: Eric Gregory Award

Poetry

 * 2011: Deep Field
 * 2010: Off Road to Everywhere (Salt)
 * 2009: The Water Table (Bloodaxe)
 * 2009: I Spy Pinhole Eye (with photographs by Simon Denison) (Cinnamon Press)
 * 2006: The Abstract Garden. Poetry collaboration with engraver Peter Reddick (The Old Stile Press)
 * 2006: The Egg of Zero(Bloodaxe)
 * 2003: Mappa Mundi (Bloodaxe)
 * 2001: Changes of Address: Poems 1980–1998 (Bloodaxe)
 * 1998: The Wasting Game (Bloodaxe)

Novels for young people

 * 2006: The Storm Garden (Oxford University Press)
 * 2003: The Lastling (Oxford University Press)
 * 2002: Going For Stone (Oxford University Press)
 * 1998: Psylicon Beach (Scholastic)
 * 1991: The Song of Gail and Fludd (Faber)