Fleur adcock biography of michael

The Land Ballot preoccupied me entirely for 22 months from March to the last day of December It was like living with characters in a novel; I felt quite wistful when I had to relinquish it to the publisher. During this time I went to New Zealand for six weeks in April and Maynot only visiting family but doing research in the Turnbull Library and elsewhere, and going with my son Andrew to what remained of Te Rauamoa, where my father and grandparents had lived during his teenage years.

I wrote no poems there, of course, but had nourishment for the ones that later arose from these experiences. EN: Two poems from Hoard prompt this next nested set of questions. They both have an enjoyably light approach to potentially heavy subjects. And what keeps you turning to poetry as your artistic medium? FA: This is a mammoth question, and my reply may veer slightly away from what you have asked.

The volume of three English poets which those factory workers enjoyed was simply a literal translation of our work, with no attempt to reproduce the rhythms or other elements that made up our poetry in English. The mouse is simply another method of stopping time, freezing the frame, keeping the scene here for ever. I have occasionally made references to other forms of technology, such as Skype, but actually I have no affection at all for the technological revolution, useful though it can be.

It depresses me to see young people, particularly children, living their lives at second hand, on screens. How has the collaborative process affected your more solitary writing projects? FA: I love working with Gillian, but I think she must be unusually easy to write for. The basic process is that she makes a proposition, we discuss it, and then I write some text and submit it to her.

Words for music have to be clear and accessible, without the nuances and subtleties that might occur in poetry for the page; it is the composer who will introduce these; the libretto is merely a framework for her creativity. This was a brilliant suggestion, and created a shift to a more thoughtful, meditative mood in the midst of all the action.

This tied in with the moon imagery — the full moon at the battle of Otterburn, and the crescent moon, which was the heraldic cap-badge of the Percy family. Gretchen Albrecht, who designed banners for the London production of the piece at NZ House, used stylized forms of these images. The Battle of Otterburn. Photo credit: Tom Moody. But enjoyable collaborations like this seem to have no effect on my own solitary writing projects.

Perhaps this is the place to mention another of those parallel activities, translation. During my fellowship in Newcastle I spent some of the first year dwelling mentally in the 14th century, with Hotspur, and the second in the 12th century, discovering medieval Latin poets and translating their work into verse that adhered as closely as possible to the rhyme schemes of the originals.

Fleur adcock biography of michael: Born in New Zealand

I had access to both university libraries, Newcastle itself and Durham, where there were scholarly editions of some of the works I needed. The challenges were largely technical, but I found them fascinating. The result was The Virgin and the Nightingale. Some years later, in the s, as a result of three separate visits to Romania, I began teaching myself Romanian and translating Romanian poets who had become friends of mine — rather a different activity because I could discuss their poetry with them.

I think I detect traces of their influence on a few of my own poems of around that time, although their tradition is so very different from ours. EN: Have the impulses that trigger and drive you to write a poem changed over your career?

Fleur adcock biography of michael: Kareen Fleur Adcock was born

FA: I like to think so, but it would take too long to go through all my past poems and analyse how they came about. The prevailing impulse, though, is nearly always verbal: a phrase echoing in my head or picked up from somewhere around me — something overheard, perhaps, or a quotation. And then I was off. EN: When you are writing a new poem, what are the aesthetic or technical problems that are most likely to make you abandon it?

EN: Does the act of writing itself help to shift your perspective on the topics you are addressing? It was a wonderfully well-stocked library, I was living alone with a small child and no resident baby-sitter, and television had not yet arrived in NZ. Later at home there will be a lot of revision, and then perhaps more walks as I do some more mental revision.

Blow Flies. Robert Harington The Belly Dancer. See Full List. The Best Poem Of Fleur Adcock Happy Ending After they had not made love she pulled the sheet up over her eyes until he was buttoning his shirt: not shyness for their bodies- those they had willingly displayed- but a frail endeavour to apologise. Fleur Adcock Comments. Stephanie 04 October Sylvia Frances Chan 21 August Anonymous 23 January Annie Thanjan 07 October Fleur Adcock Quotes Poetry is a search for ways of communication; it must be conducted with openness, flexibility, and a constant readiness to listen.

Poems About. Best Poets. Best Poems. Adcock talks to Kim Hill about her career and reads some of her favourite poems… Video, Audio. Lloyd Jones is well known for his numerous novels including Mister Pip which won the Commonwealth Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Man Booker. For the first time in the year history of the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, all three categories were won by women.

Lee Murray picked up the fiction award, non-fiction went to… Audio. New Zealand RSS. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. New Zealand poet — Alistair Te Ariki Campbell. Barry Crump. Early life [ edit ]. Career [ edit ].

Fleur adcock biography of michael: Fleur Adcock, the New Zealand-born

Personal life and death [ edit ]. Poetry collections [ edit ]. Edited or translated [ edit ]. Awards and honours [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Archived from the original on 9 October Retrieved 16 December