Harrison, Tony

(1937- )

   Born in Leeds, he was educated at Leeds Grammar School and read classics at Leeds University. He traveled widely in West Africa, Europe, Russia and the USA. He is a a noted translator, dramatist, and librettist whose works have been performed by Britain's National Theatre and the New York Metropolitan Opera. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984. Laureate's Block (1953) relates to his refusal to be considered for the role of poet laureate. Attempts to block a film version of his poem V (1985) from being shown on television, because of its strong language, did not succeed. He has won several major prizes and awards. His poems reflect his background and his travels. Some of his other publications: Earthworks, 1964. The Loiners, 1970. From the School of Eloquence and Other Poems, 1978. US Martial, 1981. Selected Poems, 1995. The Shadow of Hiroshima and Other Film/Poems, 1995. Under the Clock, 2005. Some of his poems: "Art and Extinction," "Doomsday, the Mysteries," "Sentences," "The Bedbug," "The Eumenides," "The Zeg-Zeg Postcards."

   Sources: British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). The Literary Encyclopedia (www.LitEncyc.com). 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 Faber Book of Blue Verse. John Whitworth, ed. Faber and Faber, 1990. The Harvill Book of Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. Michael Schmidt, ed. The Harvill Press, 1999. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Book of Classical Verse in Translation. Adrian Poole and Jeremy Maule, eds. 1995. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Who's Who. London: AandC Black, 2005. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).