Constantine, David

(1944- )

   English writer, poet and translator, fellow in German of Queen's College, Oxford. Born in Salford, Lancashire, he read modern languages at Wadham College, Oxford, and lectured in German at Durham from 1969 to 1981 and at Oxford from 1981 to 2000. He has won many prestigious awards and published translations of poetry and prose by German, French and Greek writers. Himself wheelchair dependent following a diving accident in 1982, he co-founded in 1990 Motivation, a charity that works to improve the quality of life of people with mobility impairment. His main publications: Watching for Dolphins, 1983. Selected Poems, 1991. Caspar Hauser, 1994. Selected Poems of Friedeirch Holderlin, 1996. The Pelt of Wasps, 1998. Something for the Ghosts, 2002. Some of his poems: "A Brightness to Cast Shadows," "Atlantis," "Birdsong," "Christ to Lazarus," "Heroes Meet Again in the Underworld" (translation of Homer), "Mary Magdalene and the Sun," "Shoes in the Charity Shop," "The Drowned," "The Trees Here," "You Are Distant, You Are Already Leaving."

   Sources: Biography of David Constantine, and his Poem, Dominion Poetry Review (http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/review/pr91-2/constant.htm). Carcanet Press (http://www.carcanet.co.uk). Some Contemporary Poets of Britain and Ireland: An Anthology. Michael Schmidt, ed. Carcanet Press, 1983. 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.