Henri, Adrian Maurice

(1932-2000)

   Born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, he graduated with an honors degree in fine art from Durham University in 1955. He settled in Liverpool where he, Roger McGough and Brian Patten (see entries) were known as the "Liverpool poets." He helped compile Penguin Modern Poets 10 (1967), after which he became a performer with the multi-media poetry-rock group Liverpool Scene. He has been compared with the American beat poets and writers of the 1950s, such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. He was also a prolific artist, winning the 1992 John Moores Prize with pieces of his work becoming a part of a permanent collection in the Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool shortly before his death and received an honorary degree of doctor of letters from the city's university. Some of his other poetry publications: Tonight at Noon, 1968. City, 1969. From the Loveless Motel, 1980. Penny Arcade, 1983. Collected Poems 1967-1985, 1986. Some of his poems: "Adrian Henri's Talking After Christmas Blues," "Crowfield," "Drinking Song," "Early Spring," "Love Story."

   Sources: A Year Full of Poems. Michael Harrison, and Christopher Stuart-Clark, ed. Oxford University Press, 1991. All-Info About Poetry (http://poetry.allinfoabout.com/features/adrian-henri.html). Precinct, Honorary Degrees for Adrian Henri and John Peel (http://www.liv.ac.uk/precinct/Jan2001/2.html). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). 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 Drink, Drinkers and Drinking. Simon Rae, ed. Faber and Faber, 1991. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Penguin Book of Light Verse. Gavin Ewart, ed. Penguin Books, 1980. Under All Silences: Shades of Love. Ruth Gordon, ed. Harper and Row, 1987.