Matthew Francis
Encyclopedia
Matthew Francis is a British poet, editor of W. S. Graham
W. S. Graham
William Sydney Graham was a Scottish poet who is often associated with Dylan Thomas and the neo-romantic group of poets. Graham's poetry was mostly overlooked in his lifetime but, partly due to the support of Harold Pinter, his work has enjoyed a revival in recent years...

's New Collected Poems, and a professor at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...

. His status as a contemporary British poet is well known. In 2004, Francis was included on the Poetry Book Society
Poetry Book Society
The Poetry Book Society was founded by T. S. Eliot and friends in 1953. Each quarter the Society selects one recently published collection of poetry for its members. The Society also publishes the quarterly poetry journal Bulletin, and it administers the competition for the annual T. S. Eliot Prize...

's list of the 20 best modern poets as selected by a panel chaired by poet laureate Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion
Sir Andrew Motion, FRSL is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.- Life and career :...

. He is revered for his impressive wordplay and sharp imagination, and his beautifully elegant phrasing makes him a very popular poet.

Recent Biography

He lived in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

 for many years. He worked for ten years in the computer industry. After his time spent in the computer industry, he went back to university to study the work of W. S. Graham
W. S. Graham
William Sydney Graham was a Scottish poet who is often associated with Dylan Thomas and the neo-romantic group of poets. Graham's poetry was mostly overlooked in his lifetime but, partly due to the support of Harold Pinter, his work has enjoyed a revival in recent years...

. Soon after he edited Graham's New Collected Poems and authored a study on Graham called Where the People Are. He now lives in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 with his wife where he lectures in creative writing at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...

.

Writing

Amy Wack of Poetry Wales categorized his writing by saying, "Francis's style is clever ebullient, pacey, often brilliant." His poem The Ornamental Hermit won him the TLS/Blackwell's Prize 2000. City Autumn won the national Gathering Swallows prize for the best poem by a published poet in response to Keats' To Autumn.

External links

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