Christopher Logue
Encyclopedia
Christopher Logue, CBE
(born 23 November 1926 in Portsmouth
, Hampshire
) is an English
poet associated with the British Poetry Revival
. He has also written for the theatre
and cinema
as well as acting in a number of films. His two screenplays are Savage Messiah
and The End of Arthur's Marriage. He was also a long-term contributor to Private Eye
magazine, as well as writing for the Merlin
literary journal of Alexander Trocchi
. He won the 2005 Whitbread Poetry Award
for Cold Calls.
His early popularity was marked by the release of a loose adaptation of Pablo Neruda
's "Twenty Love Poems", later released as an extended play recording, "Red Bird: Jazz and Poetry", backed by a Jazz group led by Tony Kinsey
.
One of his poems, "Be Not Too Hard" was set to music by Donovan
, and made popular by Joan Baez
, from her 1967 album Joan
. Donovan's version appeared in the film Poor Cow
(1967).
His major poetical work is an ongoing project to render Homer
's Iliad
into a modernist
idiom. This work is published in a number of small books, usually equating to two or three books of the original text. (The volume entitled Homer: War Music was shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry Prize
.) He has also published an autobiography
called Prince Charming (1999).
His lines tend to be short, pithy and frequently political, as in Song of Autobiography:
He wrote the couplet that is sung at the beginning and end of the 1965 film A High Wind in Jamaica
, the screenplay for Savage Messiah (1972), a television version of Antigone
(1962), and a short play for the TV series The Wednesday Play titled The End of Arthur's Marriage (1965).
He has also appeared in a number of films as an actor, most notably as Cardinal Richelieu in Ken Russell
's 1971 film The Devils
and as the spaghetti-eating fanatic in Terry Gilliam
's 1977 film Jabberwocky
.
Logue wrote for the Olympia Press
under the pseudonym, Count Palmiro Vicarion, including a pornographic novel, Lust.
Logue is married to the biographer Rosemary Hill
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 23 November 1926 in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
poet associated with the British Poetry Revival
British Poetry Revival
The British Poetry Revival is the general name given to a loose poetry movement in Britain that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. The revival was a modernist-inspired reaction to the Movement's more conservative approach to British poetry.-Beginnings:...
. He has also written for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
as well as acting in a number of films. His two screenplays are Savage Messiah
Savage Messiah
Savage Messiah is a 1972 British biographical film of the life of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, made by Russ-Arts and distributed by MGM. It was directed and produced by Ken Russell with Harry Benn as associate producer, from a screenplay by Christopher Logue, based on the book Savage...
and The End of Arthur's Marriage. He was also a long-term contributor to Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
magazine, as well as writing for the Merlin
Merlin (literary magazine)
Merlin was an avant-garde British literary magazine. Seven issues were released between 1952 and 1954. It published the work of Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller, Christopher Logue, Pablo Neruda, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among others....
literary journal of Alexander Trocchi
Alexander Trocchi
Alexander Whitelaw Robertson Trocchi was a Scottish novelist.-Early career:Trocchi was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and Italian father. After working as a seaman on the Murmansk convoys, he attended University of Glasgow. On graduation he obtained a traveling grant that enabled him to...
. He won the 2005 Whitbread Poetry Award
2005 Whitbread Awards
-Children's Book:Winner:*Kate Thompson, The New PolicemanShortlist:*Frank Cottrell Boyce, Framed*Geraldine McCaughrean, The White Darkness*Hilary McKay, Permanent Rose-First Novel:Winner:*Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk FactoryShortlist:...
for Cold Calls.
His early popularity was marked by the release of a loose adaptation of Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
's "Twenty Love Poems", later released as an extended play recording, "Red Bird: Jazz and Poetry", backed by a Jazz group led by Tony Kinsey
Tony Kinsey
Cyril Anthony 'Tony' Kinsey is an English jazz drummer and composer.Kinsey held jobs on trans-Atlantic ships while young, studying while at port with Bill West in New York City and with local musician Tommy Webster in Birmingham. He had a close association with Ronnie Ball early in his life; the...
.
One of his poems, "Be Not Too Hard" was set to music by Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, and made popular by Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, from her 1967 album Joan
Joan (album)
Joan was a 1967 album by Joan Baez. Having exhausted the standard voice/guitar folksong format by 1967, Baez collaborated with composer Peter Schickele , on an album of orchestrated covers of mostly then-current pop and rock and roll songs...
. Donovan's version appeared in the film Poor Cow
Poor Cow
Poor Cow is a 1967 British drama film directed by Ken Loach, based on Nell Dunn's novel of the same name.Although Malcolm McDowell is listed in the credits on the commercial release of the film, the scenes in which he appeared were deleted....
(1967).
His major poetical work is an ongoing project to render Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
into a modernist
Modernist poetry
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature in the English language, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases of the critic setting the...
idiom. This work is published in a number of small books, usually equating to two or three books of the original text. (The volume entitled Homer: War Music was shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry Prize
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
.) He has also published an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
called Prince Charming (1999).
His lines tend to be short, pithy and frequently political, as in Song of Autobiography:
- I, Christopher Logue, was baptized the year
- Many thousands of Englishmen,
- Fists clenched, their bellies empty,
- Walked day and night on the capital city.
He wrote the couplet that is sung at the beginning and end of the 1965 film A High Wind in Jamaica
A High Wind in Jamaica (film)
A High Wind in Jamaica is a 1965 film, based on the novel of the same name, and directed by Alexander Mackendrick for the 20th Century-Fox studio. It starred Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirates who capture the children....
, the screenplay for Savage Messiah (1972), a television version of Antigone
Antigone (Sophocles)
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
(1962), and a short play for the TV series The Wednesday Play titled The End of Arthur's Marriage (1965).
He has also appeared in a number of films as an actor, most notably as Cardinal Richelieu in Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
's 1971 film The Devils
The Devils (film)
The Devils is a 1971 British historical drama directed by Ken Russell and starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. It is based partially on the 1952 book The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley, and partially on the 1960 play The Devils by John Whiting, also based on Huxley's book...
and as the spaghetti-eating fanatic in Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's 1977 film Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky (film)
Jabberwocky is a 1977 British fantasy black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Michael Palin as a young cooper who is forced through clumsy, often slapstick misfortunes to hunt a terrible dragon after the death of his father...
.
Logue wrote for the Olympia Press
Olympia Press
Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane...
under the pseudonym, Count Palmiro Vicarion, including a pornographic novel, Lust.
Logue is married to the biographer Rosemary Hill
Rosemary Hill
Rosemary Hill is an English writer and historian. She has published widely on 19th and 20th century cultural history, but she is best known for God's Architect, her multi-award-winning biography of Augustus Pugin...
.