Sue Lenier
Encyclopedia
Susan Jennifer Lenier is an English
writer. She published two books of poetry and a number of plays.
, schooled in Tyneside
, and attended Clare College, Cambridge
. After graduating from Cambridge in 1980, she spend a year writing and performing in Germany and the UK before taking a Harkness Fellowship
in the US, where she studied acting and drama at the University of California, Berkeley
.
Her first published collection of poems, Swansongs, was published in 1982. It received a favorable review in a British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, and led to sometimes extravagant comparisons to William Shakespeare
and Charles Baudelaire
. She was hailed by some as a great new poet: Reed Whittemore, a former poetry consultant to the Library of Congress
, praised her as "a musician-poet, wholly in love with rhythm and sound"; the late Malcolm Bowie
of Queen Mary, University of London
, called her "an important writer." This positive praise was not universal: Christopher Reid
, writing for The Sunday Times
, said that she was "a striving, clumsy, humorless imitator of antiquated modes, with nothing original to say, but an earnest desire to make impressive gestures." Swansongs was published while Lenier was studying in the United States, and the book and her author made enough of an impression to warrant articles by some of the best journalists of prestigious newspapers: D.J.R. Bruckner in the New York Times and Colman McCarthy in the Washington Post.
She published a second volume of poems, Rain Following, also with Oleander Press. While the popular press in America and England showed great interest in Sue Lenier and her work, literary critics and academics took no notice of her work, and only one of her poems, "Finale," from her first volume, has been anthologized.
Since then, her poetic career appears to have ended; the only known works by her have been for the stage. Reportedly, she wrote Doctor's Orders, Eden Song, and Knight Fall, the last two first being performed at the Edinburgh Festival
. In 1995, the New Statesman & Society
published three of her poems, "Stardom," "Breakdown," and "Hospital Visit"; the magazine also reported a radio play, A Fool And His Heart, was broadcast on Radio Three's Drama Now. According to a British website, a screenplay by Will Davies about the writing of her first book whilst a student at Cambridge has been optioned by Universal Studios
.
referred to her writing as "the fastest scrawl in the west." This method of composition looked down upon with some disdain by literary critics such as John T. Shawcross (editor, critic, and bibliographer of John Milton
) in his Intentionality and the New Traditionalism, discussing the "truism of the need for planning and revision": "I am aware of such 'spontaneous' writing as that of Sue Lenier, who boasts of never altering a line after it has been put down, and of some critical assessments that have been quoted to increase sales. I rest my case on the reader's evaluation of her work." The immediate and effusive praise of her first book of poems, and especially John Newton's championship of her poetry, was criticized in a book by David Holbrook
, John Newton, Blasphemy and Poetic Taste.
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...
writer. She published two books of poetry and a number of plays.
Biography
Sue Lenier was born in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, schooled in Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
, and attended Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
. After graduating from Cambridge in 1980, she spend a year writing and performing in Germany and the UK before taking a Harkness Fellowship
Harkness Fellowship
The Harkness Fellowships are a programme run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. They were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States...
in the US, where she studied acting and drama at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Her first published collection of poems, Swansongs, was published in 1982. It received a favorable review in a British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, and led to sometimes extravagant comparisons to William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
. She was hailed by some as a great new poet: Reed Whittemore, a former poetry consultant to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, praised her as "a musician-poet, wholly in love with rhythm and sound"; the late Malcolm Bowie
Malcolm Bowie
Malcolm McNaughtan Bowie FBA was a British academic, and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge from 2002 to 2006. An acclaimed scholar of French literature, Bowie wrote several books on Marcel Proust....
of Queen Mary, University of London
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...
, called her "an important writer." This positive praise was not universal: Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid
Christopher Reid is a Hong Kong-born British poet, essayist, cartoonist, and writer. He has been nominated twice for the Whitbread Awards in 1996 and in 1997. A contemporary of Martin Amis, he was educated at Exeter College, Oxford. He is one of the exponents of Martian poetry which employs...
, writing for The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, said that she was "a striving, clumsy, humorless imitator of antiquated modes, with nothing original to say, but an earnest desire to make impressive gestures." Swansongs was published while Lenier was studying in the United States, and the book and her author made enough of an impression to warrant articles by some of the best journalists of prestigious newspapers: D.J.R. Bruckner in the New York Times and Colman McCarthy in the Washington Post.
She published a second volume of poems, Rain Following, also with Oleander Press. While the popular press in America and England showed great interest in Sue Lenier and her work, literary critics and academics took no notice of her work, and only one of her poems, "Finale," from her first volume, has been anthologized.
Since then, her poetic career appears to have ended; the only known works by her have been for the stage. Reportedly, she wrote Doctor's Orders, Eden Song, and Knight Fall, the last two first being performed at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
. In 1995, the New Statesman & Society
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
published three of her poems, "Stardom," "Breakdown," and "Hospital Visit"; the magazine also reported a radio play, A Fool And His Heart, was broadcast on Radio Three's Drama Now. According to a British website, a screenplay by Will Davies about the writing of her first book whilst a student at Cambridge has been optioned by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
.
Poetic craft
The most often noted thing about Lenier's poetic craft was that she composed poetry in an impromptu manner and didn't seem to revise any of her work; Swansong was sent to the publisher as a first-draft copy, and in the New York Times she was quoted, "'I just write the poems straight out. At first I tried to correct a few and I didn't like the corrections, so I don't do it any more." Indeed, for her quick compositions made on the fly she was nicknamed "the possessed poet"--though it was acknowledged that such poetic production easily leads to "superficial glibness." In the same vein, the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
referred to her writing as "the fastest scrawl in the west." This method of composition looked down upon with some disdain by literary critics such as John T. Shawcross (editor, critic, and bibliographer of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
) in his Intentionality and the New Traditionalism, discussing the "truism of the need for planning and revision": "I am aware of such 'spontaneous' writing as that of Sue Lenier, who boasts of never altering a line after it has been put down, and of some critical assessments that have been quoted to increase sales. I rest my case on the reader's evaluation of her work." The immediate and effusive praise of her first book of poems, and especially John Newton's championship of her poetry, was criticized in a book by David Holbrook
David Holbrook
David Kenneth Holbrook was a British writer, poet and academic. From 1989 he was an Emeritus Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.-Life:...
, John Newton, Blasphemy and Poetic Taste.