Causley, Charles

(1917-2003)

   Prize-winning poet, playwright, broadcaster and children's author. Born in Cornwall, he lived and worked for most of his life there as a teacher, apart from service in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1946. His early life was influenced by watching his father die of tuberculosis as a result of the First World War, and the presence of shell-shocked war veterans in his home town. After the war, having trained as a teacher, he returned to Launceston grammar school. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Exeter University and appointed commander of the British Empire in 1986. Some of his publications: Hands to Dance, 1951 (revised and enlarged in 1979 as Hands to Dance and Skylark; short stories of his military service). Farewell, Aggie Weston, 1951 (poems; Agnes Weston was a founder of sailors' hostels). Survivor's Leave, 1953 (poems). Some of his poems: "Armistice Day," "For an Ex-Far East Prisoner of War," "H.M.S. Glory at Sydney," "Loss of an Oil Tanker," "On Seeing a Poet of the First World War on the Station at Abbeville," "Song of the Dying Gunner A.A.1," "Ten Types of Hospital Visitor."

   Sources: Life and Works of Charles Causley (http://pedia.newsfilter.co.uk/wikipedia/c/ch/charles_causley.html ). Most Unfashionable Poet Alive: Charles Causley. A Review by Dana Gioia (http://www.danagioia.net/essays/ ecausley.htm). Obituary of Charles Causley: Telegraph News (www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/). Poetry of the World Wars. Michael Foss, ed. Peter Bedrick Books, 1990. The Biography and Burial of Charles Causley (www.poetsgraves.co.uk/causley.htm). 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 Naked Astronaut: Poems on Birth and Birthdays. Ren Graziani, ed. Faber and Faber, 1983. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Book of Christmas Poems. Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, eds. Oxford University Press, 1983. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Tongues of Fire: An Antholog y of Religious and Poetic Experience. Karen Armstrong, ed. Penguin Books, 1987.