John James (poet)
Encyclopedia
John James is a British
poet.
and later undertook postgraduate studies in American Literature at the University of Keele. He was a founder of the poetry journal The Resuscitator in Bristol in 1963 and became Arts Council Creative Writing Fellow, at the University of Sussex, 1978–79. He is the former Head of Communication Studies at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge and is married to fellow poet Wendy Mulford
, with whom he has one child.
James is an important figure of the post-war British avant-garde. A poet, he came to prominence in the 1970s and has been associated with the Cambridge School of poetry, though, importantly, not with the British Poetry Revival
. However, the relationship to the Cambridge School would do more to annex James from the mainstream of British poetry than to truly characterise his output, and it would do James a disservice to limit his appreciation by coralling him too firmly within the avant-garde; he is a genuinely popular poet of considerable power and stands outside of, or rather traverses, British camps and schools of the 1970s and 1980s.
His complexity and occasional gnomic later work is never beyond the bounds of a general reader and his excesses are a necessary feature derived from the social basis of much of the work, surveying Thatcher's Britain and the sense of decay and international relegation that many saw through the late 1970s and 1980s, as society collapsed and new social structures came to the fore. Despite this political context, James' work delights in the physical world and the gastronomic and aesthetic pleasures of life. His verse is filled with sensual delight.
James is an accessible and exceptional lyricist whose work stretches from political polemic, contemporary painting and the visual arts, philosophical investigation, homage and jeu d'esprit to pieces on place, nature, food, love, memory and loss. James' work is littered with anecdote, humour and delightful garrulousness, to the extent that he makes an ideal companion in the world of UK poetry.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
poet.
Biography
John James was born 1939 in Cardiff and was educated at Saint Illtyd’s College there. He left the college in 1957 to read Philosophy and English Literature at the University of BristolUniversity of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
and later undertook postgraduate studies in American Literature at the University of Keele. He was a founder of the poetry journal The Resuscitator in Bristol in 1963 and became Arts Council Creative Writing Fellow, at the University of Sussex, 1978–79. He is the former Head of Communication Studies at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge and is married to fellow poet Wendy Mulford
Wendy Mulford
Wendy Mulford is a British poet, associated with the contemporary avant garde scene, with the British Poetry Revival, and with the development of feminist poetry in 1970s. Her poetry has been viewed as "difficult to categorise" and as "multi- and non-linear"...
, with whom he has one child.
James is an important figure of the post-war British avant-garde. A poet, he came to prominence in the 1970s and has been associated with the Cambridge School of poetry, though, importantly, not 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:...
. However, the relationship to the Cambridge School would do more to annex James from the mainstream of British poetry than to truly characterise his output, and it would do James a disservice to limit his appreciation by coralling him too firmly within the avant-garde; he is a genuinely popular poet of considerable power and stands outside of, or rather traverses, British camps and schools of the 1970s and 1980s.
His complexity and occasional gnomic later work is never beyond the bounds of a general reader and his excesses are a necessary feature derived from the social basis of much of the work, surveying Thatcher's Britain and the sense of decay and international relegation that many saw through the late 1970s and 1980s, as society collapsed and new social structures came to the fore. Despite this political context, James' work delights in the physical world and the gastronomic and aesthetic pleasures of life. His verse is filled with sensual delight.
James is an accessible and exceptional lyricist whose work stretches from political polemic, contemporary painting and the visual arts, philosophical investigation, homage and jeu d'esprit to pieces on place, nature, food, love, memory and loss. James' work is littered with anecdote, humour and delightful garrulousness, to the extent that he makes an ideal companion in the world of UK poetry.