Kenneth White (poet)
Encyclopedia
Kenneth White is a Scottish poet, academic and writer.
area of Glasgow
, Scotland, but he spent his childhood and adolescence at Fairlie near Largs
on the Ayrshire
coast, where his father worked as a railway signalman.
White obtained a double first
in French and German from the University of Glasgow
. From 1959 until 1963, White studied at the University of Paris
, where he obtained a state doctorate. White purchased "Gourgounel", an old farm in the Ardèche
region of France, where he could spend the summers and autumns studying and working on what would become Letters from Gourgounel.
In 1963, White returned to the University of Glasgow, where he lectured in French literature until 1967. Then, disillusioned by the contemporary British literary and poetry scene, White resigned from the University and moved to the city of Pau, near the Pyrenees
, in south-west France, where he lectured in English at the University of Bordeaux
. White was expelled from the University after his involvement in the student protests of May 1968. After leaving the University of Bordeaux, White remained at Pau and lectured at the University of Paris VII from 1969 until 1983, when he left the Pyrenees for the north coast of Brittany
, and a new position as the Chair of XXth Century Poetics at Paris-Sorbonne
.
In 1989, White founded the International Institute of Geopoetics to further promote research into the cross-cultural, transdisciplinary field of study which he had been developing during the previous decade.
In October 2005, Kenneth White delivered a series of three lectures on the Geopoetics project in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The first, 'North Atlantic Investigations', was delivered at Ullapool
, the second, 'Return to the Territory', was delivered at Inverness
, and the third, 'A Sense of High North', was delivered at Kirkwall
. Transcriptions of the three lectures were published in 2006 as a single volume titled On the Atlantic Edge.
White holds honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh
and the Open University
. He is an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy
, and was recently appointed as a visiting professor at Scotland's UHI Millennium Institute
.
Kenneth White lives near on the north coast of Brittany
with his wife Marie-Claude, who is a translator and photographer.
Biography
Kenneth White was born in the GorbalsGorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
area of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland, but he spent his childhood and adolescence at Fairlie near Largs
Largs
Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" in Scottish Gaelic....
on the Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
coast, where his father worked as a railway signalman.
White obtained a double first
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
in French and German from the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
. From 1959 until 1963, White studied at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, where he obtained a state doctorate. White purchased "Gourgounel", an old farm in the Ardèche
Ardèche
Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...
region of France, where he could spend the summers and autumns studying and working on what would become Letters from Gourgounel.
In 1963, White returned to the University of Glasgow, where he lectured in French literature until 1967. Then, disillusioned by the contemporary British literary and poetry scene, White resigned from the University and moved to the city of Pau, near the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
, in south-west France, where he lectured in English at the University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
. White was expelled from the University after his involvement in the student protests of May 1968. After leaving the University of Bordeaux, White remained at Pau and lectured at the University of Paris VII from 1969 until 1983, when he left the Pyrenees for the north coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, and a new position as the Chair of XXth Century Poetics at Paris-Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
.
In 1989, White founded the International Institute of Geopoetics to further promote research into the cross-cultural, transdisciplinary field of study which he had been developing during the previous decade.
In October 2005, Kenneth White delivered a series of three lectures on the Geopoetics project in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The first, 'North Atlantic Investigations', was delivered at Ullapool
Ullapool
Ullapool is a small town of around 1,300 inhabitants in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest settlement for many miles around, and is a major tourist destination of Scotland. The North Atlantic Drift passes by Ullapool, bringing moderate temperatures...
, the second, 'Return to the Territory', was delivered at Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, and the third, 'A Sense of High North', was delivered at Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
. Transcriptions of the three lectures were published in 2006 as a single volume titled On the Atlantic Edge.
White holds honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
. He is an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
, and was recently appointed as a visiting professor at Scotland's UHI Millennium Institute
UHI Millennium Institute
The University of the Highlands and Islands is a federation of 13 colleges and research institutions in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland delivering higher education. Its executive office is in Inverness.-History:...
.
Kenneth White lives near on the north coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
with his wife Marie-Claude, who is a translator and photographer.
Poetry
- Wild Coal. Paris: Club des Étudiants d’Anglais (Sorbonne). (1963)
- En toute candeur. Paris: Mercure de France. (1964)
- The Cold Wind of Dawn. London: Jonathan CapeJonathan CapeJonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
. (1966) - The Most Difficult Area. London: Cape Goliard. (1968)
- Scènes d'un monde flottant. Lausanne: Alfred Eibel Editeur. (1976)
- Terre de diamant. Lausanne: Alfred Eibel Editeur. (1977)
- Mahamudra. Paris: Mercure de France. (1979)
- Ode fragmentéeà la Bretagne blanche. Bordeaux: Willim Blake & Co. (1980)
- Le Grand Rivage. Paris: Nouveau Commerce. (1980)
- Le dernier voyage de Brandan. Paris: Les Presses d'Aujourd'hui. (1981)
- Atlantica. Paris: Grasset. (1986)
- L'anorak du goéland. Rouen: L’Instant Perpétuel. (1986)
- The Bird Path: Collected Longer Poems. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream. (1989)
- Handbook for the Diamond Country, Collected Shorter Poems 1960–1990. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream. (1990)
- Les Rives du silence. Paris: Mercure de France. (1998)
- Limites et marges. Paris: Mercure de France. (2000)
- Open World: Collected Poems 1960–2000. Edinburgh: Polygon. (2003)
- Le passage extérieur. Paris: Mercure de France. (2005)
Prose
- Letters from Gourgounel. London: Jonathan Cape. (1966)
- Les Limbes Incandescentes. Paris: Denoël. (1976)
- Derives. Paris: Denoël. (1978)
- L'Ecosse. Paris: Flammarion. (1980)
- Le Visage du Vent d'Est. Paris: Les Presses d'Aujourd'hui. (1980)
- La Route Bleue. Paris: Grasset. (1983)
- Travels in the Drifting Dawn. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream. (1989)
- Les Cygnes sauvages. Paris: Grasset. (1990)
- Pilgrim of the Void. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream. (1992)
- House of Tides: Letters from Brittany and Other Lands of the West. Edinburgh: Polygon. (2000)
- Across the Territories. Edinburgh: Polygon. (2004)
- Le Rôdeur des confins. Paris: Albin Michel. (2006)
- La Carte de Guido. Paris: Albin Michel. (2011)
Essays
- The Tribal Dharma. Carmarthen: Unicorn Bookshop. (1975)
- The Coast opposite Humanity. Carmarthen: Unicorn Bookshop. (1975)
- Approches du Monde Blanc. Paris: Nouveau Commerce. (1976)
- The Life-technique of John Cowper Powys". Swansea: Galloping Dog Press. (1978)
- Segalen, Théorie et Pratique du Voyage. Lausanne: Alfred Eibel. (1979)
- La Figure du dehors. Paris: Grasset. (1982)
- Une apocalypse tranquille. Paris: Grasset. (1985)
- L'esprit Nomade. Paris: Grasset. (1987)
- Le Poète Cosmographe". Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux. (1987)
- Le Monde d'Antonin Artaud". Bruxelles: Complexe. (1989)
- Le Chant du Grand Pays". Nimes: Terriers (1989)
- Hokusai ou l'Horizon Sensible. Paris: Terrain Vague. (1990)
- Le Plateau de l’albatros: Introduction à la géopoétique. Paris: Grasset. (1994)
- Le Lieu et la Parole. Cleguer: Editions du Scorff. (1997)
- Une Strategie Paradoxale". Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux. (1998)
- Les Finisterres de l'Esprit. Cleguer: Editions du Scorff. (1998)
- On Scottish Ground. Edinburgh: Polygon. (1998)
- Le Champ du Grand Travail". Bruxelles: Didier Devillez. (2003)
- The Wanderer and His Charts. Edinburgh: Polygon. (2004)
- L'Ermitage des Brumes. Paris: Dervy. (2005)
- On the Atlantic Edge. Sandstone. (2006)
- Dialogue avec Deleuze. Paris: Isolato. (2007)
- Les Affinités Extremes. Paris: Albin Michel. (2009)
Interviews (Collected)
Coast to Coast. Glasgow, Open World and Mythic Horse Press, 1996.Translations
- Showing the Way, a Hmong Initiation of the Dead. Bangkok, Pandora, 1983.
- André Breton, Selected Poems. London, Jonathan Cape, 1969
- André Breton, Ode to Charles Fourier. London, Cape Goliard Press, 1969.
Recorded poetry
Into the White World. two cassettes of poetry readings, Scotsoun, 13 Ashton Rd, Glasgow G12 8SP, 1992.Awards
- 1983 Prix Médicis étrangerPrix MédicisThe Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by Gala Barbisan and Jean-Pierre Giraudoux. It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent."...
for La Route bleue - 1985 French AcademyAcadémie françaiseL'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
's Grand Prix du Rayonnement - 1987 Prix Alfred de Vigny for Atlantica
Further reading
- Bowd, Gavin. The Outsiders: Alexander TrocchiAlexander TrocchiAlexander Whitelaw Robertson Trocchi was a Scottish novelist.-Early career:Trocchi was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and Italian father. After working as a seaman on the Murmansk convoys, he attended University of Glasgow. On graduation he obtained a traveling grant that enabled him to...
and Kenneth White. (1998) - Bowd, Gavin (editor). Grounding a World: Essays on the Work of Kenneth White. (2005)