Peter Redgrove

Peter William Redgrove (2 January 1932 - 16 June 2003) was an English poet, novelist, and playwright, "known for his exuberant depictions of the natural world and a penchant for verbal pyrotechnics."

Peter Redgrove (1932-2003). Courtesy Shearsman Books.

Life

Youth and education

Redgrove was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.

His early education was at Taunton School.

He then attended Queens' College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge he edited delta magazine for a couple of issues, and met poets Ted Hughes and Harry Guest.

He left Cambridge in 1954 without taking a degree, married sculptor Barbara Sherlock, and went into copywriting.

Career

In Cambridge Redgrove had participated in Philip Hobsbaum's poetry discussion group. He continued to participate when these discussions moved to London, and thus became a member of 'The Group'.

He taught at the University at Buffalo in 1961/2, and was Gregory fellow at the University of Leeds from 1962 to 1965.

Towards and until the end of his life, Redgrove lived in Falmouth, Cornwall, where some of his more magickal/mystical poems were inspired and written.

He left behind 2 children from his earliest marriage, to sculptor Barbara Redgrove; also Penelope, his 2nd wife and an accomplished writer in her own right, and their daughter, Zoe, who is an expert in renewable energy.

Writing

The best of Redgrove's poetry is charged with a sense of wonder, mixing scientific and magical viewpoints in a distinctive and profound way. It is considered by many to be some of the most moving literature by any English poet.

Recognition

He was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1996.

Publications

Poetry

• The Collector, and other poems. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959.
• The Nature of Cold Weather. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961.
• At The White Monument, and other poems. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963.
• The Force, and other poems. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966.
• The God-Trap. London: Turret Books, 1966.
• The Sermon: A prose poem. London: Poet & Printer, 1966.
• Penguin Modern Poets 11 (by D.M. Black, Peter Redgrove, & D.M. Thomas). Harmondsworth, UK, & Baltimore, MD: Penguin, 1968.
• Peter Redgrove's Work in Progress, 1968. London: Poet & Printer, 1969.
• The Old White Man: A poem adapted from a Chinese Tang dynasty story. London: Poet & Printer, 1968.
• The Mother, the Daughter, and the Sighing Bridge. Oxford, UK: Sycamore Press, 1970.
• The Shirt, the Skull & the Grape. Frensham, UK: Sceptre Press, 1970.
• Lover Hating Lover (broadside). Santa Barbara, CA: Unicorn Press, 1970.
• The Bedside Clock. Oxford, UK: Sycamore Press (Broadsheet 15), 1971.
• Love's Journeys: Poems. Cardiff, Wales, UK: Second Aeon, 1971.
• Doctor Faust's Sea-Spiral Spirit, and other poems. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972.
• Three Pieces for Voices. London: Poet & Printer, 1972.
• Two Poems. Rushden, Northamptonshire, UK: Sceptre Press, 1972.
• Sons of My Skin: Redgrove's selected poems, 1954-1974 (edited by Marie Peel). London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975.
• Aesculapian Notes. Knotting, UK: Sceptre Press, 1975.
• From Every Chink of the Ark, and other new poems. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.
• Skull Event. Knotting, UK: Sceptre Press, 1977.
• Ten Poems. London: Words Press, 1977.
• The Fortifiers, the Vitrifiers, and the Witches. Knotting, UK: Sceptre Press, 1977.
• Happiness. Birkhamsted, UK: Priapus Press, 1978.
• The White, Night-Flying Moths Called Souls. Knotting, UK: Sceptre Press, 1978.
• The Weddings at Nether Powers, and other new poems. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979.
• The First Earthquake. London: Secker & Warburg, 1980.
• The Apple-Broadcast, and other new poems. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981.
• The Facilitators, or Mister Hole-in-the–Day. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
• The Man Named East, and other new poems. London & Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.
• The Explanation of the Two Visions. Leamington Spa, UK: Sixth Chamber Press, 1985.
• The Mudlark Poems / Grand Buveur. London: Rivelin Grapheme Press, 1986.
• In the Hall of the Saurians. London: Secker & Warburg, 1987.
• The Moon Disposes: Poems, 1954—1987. London: Secker & Warburg, 1987.
• The Black Goddess and the Sixth Sense. London: Bloomsbury, 1987; New York: Grove Press, 1988.
• The One Who Set Out To Study Fear. London: Bloomsbury, 1989.
• The First Earthquake. London: Secker & Warburg, 1989.
• Poems, 1954–1987. London & New York: Penguin, 1989.
• Dressed as for a Tarot Pack. Exeter, Devon, UK: Taxus, 1990.
• Under the Reservoir.London: Secker & Warburg, 1992.
• The Laborators. Exeter, Devon, UK: Taxus, 1993.
• Sex - Magic - Poetry - Cornwall: A flood of poems (edited by Jeremy Robinson; illustrated by Cassidy Hughes). Kidderminster, Worcestershire, UK: Crescent Moon, 1994.
• My Father's Trapdoors. London: Cape, 1994.
• Abyssophone. Exeter, UK: Stride, 1995.
• Assembling a Ghost. London: Cape, 1996.
• The Book of Wonders: The best of Peter Redgrove's poetry (edited by Jeremy Robinson). Kidderminster, Worcestershire, UK: Crescent Moon, 1996.
• Orchard End: New poems. Exeter, Devon, UK: Stride, 1997.
• Selected Poems. London: Cape, 1999.
• From the Virgil Caverns. London: Cape, 2002.
• Sheen. Exeter, Devon, UK: Stride, 2003.
• The Harper. London: Cape, 2006.
• A Speaker for the Silver Goddess. Exeter, Devon, UK: Stride, 2006.
• Collected Poems (edited by Neil Roberts). London: Cape, 2012.

Plays

• Miss Carstairs Dressed for Blooding, and other plays. London: Marion Boyers, 1977.

Novels

• In the Country of the Skin. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973.
• The Hermaphrodite Album (with Penelope Shuttle). London: Fuller d'Arch Smith, 1973.
• The Terrors of Dr. Treviles: A romance (with Penelope Shuttle). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974.
• The Glass Cottage: A nautical romance (with Penelope Shuttle). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976.
• The Sleep of the Great Hypnotist: The life and death and life after death of a modern magician. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979.
• The Beekeepers: A novel. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980.
• The God of Glass: A morality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979.
• The Working of Water. Durham, UK: Taxus, 1984.

Short fiction

• The Cyclopean Mistress: Selected short fiction, 1960-1990. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 1993.
• What the Black Mirror Saw: New short fiction and prose poetry. Exeter, UK: Stride, 1997.

Non-fiction

• The Wise Wound: Eve's curse and everywoman (with Penelope Shuttle). London: Gollancz, 1978; New York: Richard Marek, 1978
  • also published as The Wise Wound: Menstruation and everywoman. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1980; London & New York: Marion Boyers, 1999.
• Alchemy for Women: Personal transformation through dreams and the female cycle (with Penelope Shuttle). London: Rider, 1995.
• The Colour of Radio: Essays and interviews (edited by Neil Roberts). Exeter, Devon, UK: Stride, 2006.

Edited

• New Poems 1967: A PEN anthology of contemporary poetry (edited with John Fuller & Harold Pinter). London: Hutchinson, 1968.
• Lamb and Thundercloud: Totleigh Barton poems. Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, UK: Arvon Press, 1975.
• New Poetry 5: An Arts Council anthology (edited with Jon Silkin). London: Hutchinson, 1979.
• Cornwall in Verse. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

References

Fonds

• Redgrove papers at the Library of the University of Sheffield

External links

Poems

• Peter Redgrove at the Poetry Foundation

Books

• Peter Redgrove at Amazon.com

About

• Peter Redgrove in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Peter Redgrove obituary at The Guardian
• Collected Poems by Peter Redgrove reviewed at The Guardian