Lee Harwood
Encyclopedia
Lee Harwood is a poet
associated with the British Poetry Revival
.
to maths teacher Wilfred Travers Lee-Harwood and Grace Ladkin Harwood, who were then living in Chertsey
, Surrey
. His father was an army reservist and called up as war started; after the evacuation from Dunkirk he was posted to Africa until 1947 and saw little of his son. Between 1958-61 Harwood studied English
at Queen Mary College
, University of London
and continued living in London until 1967. During that time he worked as a monumental mason's mate, a librarian and a bookshop assistant. He was also a member of the Beat scene and in 1963 was involved in editing the one issue magazines Night Scene and Night Train featuring their work, as did Soho and Horde the following year. Tzarad, which he began editing on his own in 1965, ran for two more issues (1966, 1969) and signalled his growing interest in and involvement with the New York School
of poets. It was during this time that he began to engage with French poetry and started on his translations of Tristan Tzara
.
In 1967 he moved to Brighton
where, with the exception of some time in Greece
and the United States
, he has continued to live. There he worked as a bookshop manager, a bus conductor, and a Post Office counter clerk. He also became a union official and involved with the Labour Party
in its radical years, even standing (unsuccessfully) in a local election. At the Poetry Society
Harwood was identified with the radicals but did not join in their block resignation in 1977, arguing that 'as a trade unionist I've never believed in resignation as a useful political weapon - it always seems best to work from inside an organisation'. At that time, there was an identifiable political element to Harwood's poetry, discernible in the volume "All The Wrong Notes" (1981).
In 1961 he married his first wife, Jenny Goodgame, by whom he had a son, Blake, in 1962. After the breakdown of this marriage, he met the photographer Judith Walker while a writer in residence at the Aegean School of Fine Arts in Paros
, Greece, and married her in 1974. Photographs by her are used in his collections Boston-Brighton and All the wrong notes. Harwood and Judith Walker have a son, Rafe (1977) and a daughter, Rowan (1979).
of the New York School
, especially that of John Ashbery
, whom he met in Paris in 1965. What he was aiming for, he said in a 1972 interview, was an unfinished quality containing a mosaic of information. Robert Sheppard has described Harwood's style as at once 'distanced and intimate'. Later, after discussion with F.T.Prince, he aimed for a certain elegance where references to the English colonial enterprise
function as an alternative cultural mythology. There is about this writing an aspect of collage (which Harwood likens to similar procedures in cinema and painting) which he takes even further in the collections published during the 1970s. Here lyric lines alternate with scraps of conversation, blocks of prose or long-lined verse. In his later work, however, some critics have discerned a falling off of immediacy while, in the view of others, Harwood 'returned to form' with the books ‘Morning Light’ (1998) and ‘Evening Star’ (2004) .
Harwood's first book, title illegible, was published by Bob Cobbing
's Writers Forum in 1965. His Crossing the frozen river: selected poems appeared in 1988 but is now out of print; Shearsman has since published both a Collected Poems (2004) and a new Selected Poems (2008).
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
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:...
.
Life
Travers Rafe Lee Harwood was born in LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
to maths teacher Wilfred Travers Lee-Harwood and Grace Ladkin Harwood, who were then living in Chertsey
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. His father was an army reservist and called up as war started; after the evacuation from Dunkirk he was posted to Africa until 1947 and saw little of his son. Between 1958-61 Harwood studied English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
at Queen Mary College
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
and continued living in London until 1967. During that time he worked as a monumental mason's mate, a librarian and a bookshop assistant. He was also a member of the Beat scene and in 1963 was involved in editing the one issue magazines Night Scene and Night Train featuring their work, as did Soho and Horde the following year. Tzarad, which he began editing on his own in 1965, ran for two more issues (1966, 1969) and signalled his growing interest in and involvement with the New York School
New York School
The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
of poets. It was during this time that he began to engage with French poetry and started on his translations of Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, composer and film director, he was known best for being one of the founders and central figures of the anti-establishment Dada movement...
.
In 1967 he moved to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
where, with the exception of some time in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he has continued to live. There he worked as a bookshop manager, a bus conductor, and a Post Office counter clerk. He also became a union official and involved with the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in its radical years, even standing (unsuccessfully) in a local election. At the Poetry Society
Poetry Society
The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry".The Society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society in 1912...
Harwood was identified with the radicals but did not join in their block resignation in 1977, arguing that 'as a trade unionist I've never believed in resignation as a useful political weapon - it always seems best to work from inside an organisation'. At that time, there was an identifiable political element to Harwood's poetry, discernible in the volume "All The Wrong Notes" (1981).
In 1961 he married his first wife, Jenny Goodgame, by whom he had a son, Blake, in 1962. After the breakdown of this marriage, he met the photographer Judith Walker while a writer in residence at the Aegean School of Fine Arts in Paros
Paros
Paros is an island of Greece in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Municipality of Paros includes numerous uninhabited offshore islets...
, Greece, and married her in 1974. Photographs by her are used in his collections Boston-Brighton and All the wrong notes. Harwood and Judith Walker have a son, Rafe (1977) and a daughter, Rowan (1979).
Poetry
Harwood's early writing is similar to the poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
of the New York School
New York School
The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
, especially that of John Ashbery
John Ashbery
John Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, whom he met in Paris in 1965. What he was aiming for, he said in a 1972 interview, was an unfinished quality containing a mosaic of information. Robert Sheppard has described Harwood's style as at once 'distanced and intimate'. Later, after discussion with F.T.Prince, he aimed for a certain elegance where references to the English colonial enterprise
function as an alternative cultural mythology. There is about this writing an aspect of collage (which Harwood likens to similar procedures in cinema and painting) which he takes even further in the collections published during the 1970s. Here lyric lines alternate with scraps of conversation, blocks of prose or long-lined verse. In his later work, however, some critics have discerned a falling off of immediacy while, in the view of others, Harwood 'returned to form' with the books ‘Morning Light’ (1998) and ‘Evening Star’ (2004) .
Harwood's first book, title illegible, was published by Bob Cobbing
Bob Cobbing
Bob Cobbing was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet who was a central figure in the British Poetry Revival.-Early life:...
's Writers Forum in 1965. His Crossing the frozen river: selected poems appeared in 1988 but is now out of print; Shearsman has since published both a Collected Poems (2004) and a new Selected Poems (2008).