Gillian Clarke

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Not to be confused with Gillian Clark (disambiguation).

Gillian Clarke
National Poet of Wales
In office
2008 – March 2016
Preceded byGwyn Thomas
Succeeded byIfor ap Glyn
Personal details
Born (1937-06-08) 8 June 1937 (age 86)
NationalityWelsh
OccupationWriter

Gillian Clarke (born 8 June 1937) is a Welsh poet and playwright, who also edits, broadcasts, lectures and translates from Welsh into English. She co-founded Tŷ Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales.[1]

Life

The house of Clarke's grandmother at Fforest Farm, near Fishguard

Gillian Clarke was born on 8 June 1937 in Cardiff.[2][3]

Career

After university, Clarke spent a year working for the BBC in London. She then returned to Cardiff, where she gave birth to her daughter, Catrin, and two sons. About Catrin she wrote a poem under her name. Clarke worked as an English teacher, first at the Reardon-Smith Nautical College and later at Newport College of Art.

In the mid-1980s she moved to rural Ceredigion, West Wales, with her second husband, after which she spent some years teaching creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. In 1990 she was a co-founder of Tŷ Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales.

Her poetry is studied by

A Level students throughout the United Kingdom. A considerable number of her poems are used in the GCSE AQA Anthology. She has given poetry readings and lectures in Europe and the United States; her work has been translated into ten languages.[1] Some of her English poems were translated into Chinese by Peter Jingcheng Xu and published in the journal Foreign Literature and Art (Issue 6, December 2016).[4]

Clarke has published numerous collections of poetry for adults and children (see below), as well as dramatic commissions and articles in a wide range of publications. She is a former editor of The Anglo-Welsh Review (1975–84) and the current president of Tŷ Newydd. Several of her books have received a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. In 1999, Gillian Clarke received the Glyndŵr Award for an "Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales" during the Machynlleth Festival. She was on the judging panel for the 2008 Manchester Poetry Prize. Clarke reads her poetry for teenagers who are taking their English GCSE school exams. She is part of the GCSE Poetry Live team that also includes John Agard, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Imtiaz Dharker, Moniza Alvi, Grace Nichols, Daljit Nagra and Choman Hardi.[citation needed]

In December 2013, Clarke was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. She has written over 100 poems during her career.[5]

Awards

In 2008, Gillian Clarke became the third National Poet of Wales.[6] She held the post until 2016, when she was succeeded by Ifor ap Glyn.[7] In 2010 she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and became the second Welsh person to receive the honour.[8]

In 2011 Clarke joined the

Gorsedd of Bards.[9] In 2012 she received the Wilfred Owen Association Poetry award.[10]

The book Ice was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2012.[11]

Books

See also

  • Anglo-Welsh poetry

References

  1. ^ a b "Carcanet Press – Gillian Clarke". www.carcanet.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Literary Birthday – 8 June – Gillian Clarke – Writers Write". writerswrite.co.za. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Gillian Clarke (poet) – United Kingdom – Poetry International". www.poetryinternationalweb.net. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  4. ^ "威尔士民族诗人吉莲·克拉克的小站". site.douban.com. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Gillian Clarke". bbc.co.uk. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  6. ^ Welsh Academi – National Poet of Wales Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Thomas, Huw (1 March 2016). "Ifor ap Glyn is appointed new national poet of Wales". BBC News. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Queen's Gold Medal for Welch poet Gilian Clarke". ABC. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Gorsedd honour for Gillian Clarke and Nigel Owens". BBC. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Wilfred Owen Association Award". 21 March 2012. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  11. ^ Alison Flood (23 October 2012). "TS Eliot prize for poetry announces 'fresh, bold' shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2012.

External links

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