Ridler, Anne

(1912-2001)

   Anne Barbara Bradby was born at Rugby, Warwickshire, where her father was a housemaster at Rugby School. After graduating in journalism from King's College, London, in 1932, she worked for Faber and Faber from 1935 to 1940, became the protégée of T.S. Eliot (see entry), and married Vivian Ridler in 1938. A few months before her death she received the Order of the British Empire. Her works include translations of libretti by Monteverdi, Cavalli and Mozart. Her version of Cosi Fan Tutte for Opera North in 1988 was televised by Channel 4. Her poetry dramas include: Cain, 1943. The Trial of Thomas Cranmer, 1956. The Jesse Tree: A Masque in Verse, 1970. The Lambton Worm, 1978. Her poems explore religious themes and celebrate human experience, notably marriage and motherhood. Her poetry publications include: Poems, 1939. The New Bright Shiners, 1945. The Golden Bird, 1951. Some Time After, 1972. Collected Poems, 1994. Some of her poems: "At Christmas," "At Parting," "Before Sleep," "For a Child Expected," "Poem for a Christmas Broadcast," "The Speech of the Dead," "Venetian Scene."

   Sources: A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century. James H. Trott, ed. Cumberland House Publishing, 1999. Chaos of the Night: Women's Poetry and Verse of the Second World War. Catherine W. Reilly, ed. Virago Press, 1984. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Guardian Unlimited, In Memoriam, Anne Ridler (http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/poetry/story/0,6000,581905,00.html). Oldpoetry (www.oldpoetry.com). Portraits of Poets. Sebastian Barker, ed. Carcanet, 1986. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Women's Poetry of the 1930s: A Critical Antholog y. Jane Dowson, ed. Routledge, 1966.