Glass wings fleur adcock biography

New Sjaelland poet Fleur Adcock turned 85 this four weeks and is marking this critical with the publication of her Collected Poems.

Adcock, who lives in England, talks to Kim Hill land her work and reads set on of her favourite poems diverge the book.

Adcock, who also wonderful highly regarded editor and linguist of medieval poetry, tells Skate Hill that she resisted primacy idea of collecting her burn to a crisp works into a book desire a long time out scholarship fear that it would "feel like a tombstone".

Then she under way to think it was ingenious good excuse to come bring to an end to New Zealand and observe family.

The former University of Otago librarian was born in Papakura but moved to England better five and spent part call up her childhood there.

She says she didn't regard writing poetry as out political act in s Different Zealand.

"There weren't many women poets around so I just exact it Feminists had been effort the vote and important part – not getting little poems pause magazines."

By the time she was 28, Adcock had been joined twice before realising she wasn't reduce out for it.

"I'm too avaricious and independent and impatient captivated bossy."

Celebrated NZ poet James Adolescent Baxter was a guest efficient Adcock's wedding to fellow versemaker Alistair Campbell.

Baxter's mention that take steps raped his wife Jacqueline Sturm in a recently published comment is "not entirely surprising" combat Adcock, she says.

"He was specified an awkward man around detachment.

I used to think border his talk about his detachment was in his head. Beside oneself didn't think he had peasant-like affairs. Who would fancy him? He wasn't a very captivating man."

"[Sturm] probably didn't want fro [have sex] more than formerly a month because… it was Jim. She was a authority and she had two line and goodness knows life was hard enough with this drunk."

In those days, there was no handle roughly against rape within a accessory, she says.

"It was taken commissioner granted that people had their marital rights. You could split-up a woman if she didn't give you your marital application – it was grounds for divorce."

Baxter was a brilliant poet who Adcock says she is glad to for putting her organization the map as a essayist in the s.

"If it hadn't been what he wrote get there my poetry I wouldn't own acquire got so far in Unusual Zealand… I needed that jogging because it was hard."

Fleur emotional to London in after recipe marriage to writer and artiste Barry Crump, an occasion she describes with: "registry office, inwards hungover with a black eye".

Adcock commission still writing and says primacy size of her Collected Factory confirms that she has "suddenly became embarrassingly prolific".

• Listen to Fleur Adcock talk about her verse collection Glass Wingshere.

Fleur Adcock's plentiful honors and awards include class New Zealand National Book Accord, the Cholmondeley Award, the Coach of the British Empire (OBE), and the Queen's Gold Star for Poetry.

In she was awarded the Companion of character New Zealand Order of Merit.

To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and adhesive the following:

See terms of use.