Lawrence Sail

Lawrence Sail (born 29 October 1942) is a contemporary British poet and writer. His poems are known for their "scrupulous combination of close observation and broader reflections";^[1] He is published by Bloodaxe Books. Sail's poetry collections include Eye-Baby (2006); The World Returning (2002), Building into Air (1995), and Out of Land: New and Selected Poems (1992). He has edited several prominent anthologies, including The New Exeter Book of Riddles (1999) with Kevin Crossley-Holland, and First and Always: Poems for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (1988). Other works include his childhood memoir Cross-currents: essays (Enitharmon, 2005), Sift (Impress Books, 2010), and Songs of the Darkness which combines Sail's Christmas poems with his daughter's illustrations (Enitharmon, 2010).

Biography

Sail was born in London and brought up in Exeter. He studied French and German at Oxford University and subsequently taught for some years in Kenya, before returning to the UK, where he taught at Blundell's School and, later, Exeter School (where the modern languages department was headed by Harry Guest, another published poet). He is now a freelance writer. He also edited South-West Review from 1980 to 1985. Sail works in schools and colleges, and has also written a radio play, as well as short features for radio. He has presented the BBC Radio 3 programme 'Poetry Now' and 'Time for Verse' on BBC Radio 4. He was chairman of the Arvon Foundation from 1990 to 1994, has directed the Cheltenham Literature Festival, was the UK jury member for the European Literature Prize (1994–96), has been a judge for the Whitbread Prize and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.^[2]

Bibliography

Opposite Views Dent, 1974
The Drowned River Mandeville Press, 1978
The Kingdom of Atlas Secker & Warburg, 1980
South-West Review: A Celebration (editor) South West Arts, 1985
Devotions Secker & Warburg, 1987
Aquamarine The Gruffyground Press, 1988
First and Always: Poems for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital (compiler and editor) Faber and Faber, 1988
Water (Poem Poster) (wood-engraving by Hellmuth Weissenborn) Friends of Cheltenham Literature Festival, 1989
Air (Poem Poster) (wood-engraving by John O'Connor) Friends of Cheltenham Literature Festival, 1990
Fire (Poem Poster) (wood-engraving by Gwenda Morgan) Friends of Cheltenham Literature Festival, 1991
Earth (Poem Poster) (wood-engraving by Miriam MacGregor) Friends of Cheltenham Literature Festival, 1992
Out of Land: New and Selected Poems Bloodaxe Books, 1992
Building into Air Bloodaxe Books, 1995
The New Exeter Book of Riddles (edited with Kevin Crossley-Holland; illustrated by Simon Drew) Enitharmon, 1999
The World Returning Bloodaxe Books, 2002
Cross-currents (essays) Enitharmon, 2005
Light Unlocked: Christmas Card Poems (edited with Kevin Crossley-Holland; illustrated by John Lawrence) Enitharmon, 2005
Eye-Baby Bloodaxe Books, 2006
Waking Dreams: New & Selected Poems Bloodaxe Books, 2010

Prizes and awards

1992 Hawthornden Fellowship
1993 Arts Council Writers' Award
2004 Cholmondeley Award

References

^ "The Old Shirburnian Society". Retrieved 17 November 2023.
^ "Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.

Extracted from The Open Library
Lawrence Sail at Contemporary Writers

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[1] "The Old Shirburnian Society". Retrieved 17 November 2023.

[2] "Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.

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