Simpson, Matt

(1936- )

   He was born in Bootle, Lancashire, educated at Cambridge and Liverpool universities, and from 1966 to 1996 he was a senior lecturer in English at what is now Liverpool Hope University. He lives in Liverpool with his wife, former German actress Monika Weydert. With John Lucas he co-edited Stoneland Harvest- Selected Poems of Dimitris Tsaloumas (1999) and in 2003 The Way You Say the World, a festschrift for Anne Stevenson (see entry) on her 70th birthday. He has published a collection of literary essays, Hugging the Shore, and five commentaries on Shakespeare plays. His work-which appears in over a hundred anthologies-includes poetry for children. In 1995 he was poet in residence in Tasmania. His poetry publications: Making Arrangements, 1982. An Elegy for the GaloshermanNew and Selected Poems, 1990. Catching Up with History, 1995. The Pigs' Thermal Underwear, 1995 (children). Cutting the Clouds Towards, 1998. Getting There, 2001. In Deep, 2006. Some of his poems: "Barbus Vulgaris," "Dead Ringer," "The Ghost of My Mother," "Homecoming," "Knowing Where to Look," "My Grandmother's African Grey."

   Sources: Greenwich Exchange Publishing: Matt Simpson. (http://www.greenex.co.uk/search/search.cgi?Terms=simpson). Matt (Simpson), Wes (Magee) 'n' Pete. (Dixon, Macmillan Children's Books, 1995) republished under the title Lost Property Box, 1998. Personal correspondence. 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 Windows Project, Poetry, Matt Simpson's Publications (www.windowsproject.demon.co.uk/writers/simpson.htm).