Joseph, Jenny

(1932- )

   One of Britain's foremost living poets, she was born in Birmingham and read English literature at St. Hilda's College, Oxford. She has done various jobs; journalism in England and 18 months in Johannesburg, South Africa, working for Drum Publications; lecturing in English literature and language; and being a pub landlady. Her first book, The Unlooked-for Season (1960), won her a Gregory Award, and for Rose in the Afternoon (1974) she won a Cholmondeley Award. Many more awards followed. All the Things I See (2000) is a poetry selection for children. Her book, Led by the Nose: A Garden of Smells (2004), is a month-by-month memoir in which she captures the smells and senses of her Gloucestershire garden. Her witty poem "Warning"- about growing old - was the inspiration for the "Red Hat Society" founded in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, California. A BBC poll found "Warning" to be the most popular 20th Century poem. Some of her other poems: "Abstract Study - Circles," "Against the Personality Cult," "An Animal Story," "An Exile in Devon," "Dawn Walkers," "Fables," "The Road from Glastonbury," "Zenith."

   Sources: Cambium Gardening (http://www.cambiumgardening.com/books/bonsai/). Biography of Jenny Joseph (http://www.wheniamanoldwoman.com/pages/348545/). Poetry with an Edge. Neil Astley, ed. Bloodaxe Books, 1988. Selected Poems of Jenny Joseph. Bloodaxe Books, 1992. 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. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).