Crossley-Holland, Kevin

(1941- )

   Born in Mursley, North Buckinghamshire, he grew up in Whiteleaf, a village in the Chiltern hills of western England, and now lives in Norfolk, England. While studying at Oxford University, he developed a passion for Anglo-Saxon literature and has lectured in Anglo-Saxon literature in England and in America, where he was professor of humanities and fine arts at the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota (1991-1995). At the beginning of his writing career he worked as a poetry, fiction and children's book editor for Macmillan, later becoming editorial director at Victor Gollancz. He is well-known for his reinterpretations of medieval legends; his Arthurian trilogy - set in the Welsh Marches in the Middle Ages-has been published in 23 languages. He has also written libretti for two operas with the composer Nicola LeFanu. He has published several poetry collections, the last one being Once Upon a Poem (2005), and translated, among others, The Battle of Maldon and Other Old English Poems (1965) and Beowulf (1968). Some of his poems: "Book Moth," "Fish in River," "Postcards from Kodai," "Riddle," "They're Marked Men," "Weathercock," "Wild Swan."

   Sources: An Antholog y of Old English Poetry. Charles W. Kennedy, ed. Oxford University Press, 1960. British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). Biography of Kevin Crossley-Holland (http://www.ncbf.org.uk/03/crossley-holland/crossley-holland.html). 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 Kingfisher Book of Children's Poetry. Michael Rosen, ed. Kingfisher Books, 1985. The New Exeter Book of Riddles. Kevin CrossleyHolland and Lawrence Sail, ed. Enitharmon Press, 1999. The Oxford Book of Travel Verse. Kevin Crossley-Holland, ed. Oxford University Press, 1986. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Rattle Bag: An Antholog y of Poetry. Seamus Heaney, and Ted Hughes, ed. Faber and Faber, 1982. Who's Who. London: A & C Black, 2005.