Martyn Crucefix
Encyclopedia
Martyn Crucefix is a British poet, translator and reviewer. Published predominantly by Enitharmon Press
, his work ranges widely from vivid and tender lyrics to writing that pushes the boundaries of the extended narrative poem. His themes encompass questions of history and identity (particularly in the 1997 collection A Madder Ghost) and - influenced by his translations of Rainer Maria Rilke
- his more recent work focuses on the transformations of imagination and momentary epiphanies.
. He completed a D.Phil. at Worcester College, Oxford
, writing on the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley
and Enlightenment and Romantic theories of language. He currently teaches in North London and is married to Louise Tulip. They have two children.
and a Hawthornden Fellowship. He has published 5 original collections: Beneath Tremendous Rain (Enitharmon, 1990)http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=339; At the Mountjoy Hotel (Enitharmon, 1993)http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=490; On Whistler Mountain (Sinclair-Stevenson, 1994); A Madder Ghost (Enitharmon, 1997)http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=44; An English Nazareth (Enitharmon, 2004) http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=42; Hurt (Enitharmon, 2010).http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=386. His translation of Rainer Maria Rilke
’s Duino Elegies (Enitharmon, 2006) http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=207 was shortlisted for the 2007 Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation and hailed as “unlikely to be bettered for very many years” (Magma) and by the Popescu judges as “a milestone of translation and a landmark in European poetry”.
An early selection of Crucefix’s work secured an Eric Gregory Award in 1984 and appeared in The Gregory Poems: The Best of the Young British Poets 1983-84, edited and chosen by John Fuller
and Howard Sergeant
. His first book, Beneath Tremendous Rain (Enitharmon, 1990) was published two years after he had been featured by Peter Forbes
in a ‘New British Poets’ edition of Poetry Review. This collection contains his elegy for his friend, the poet and food writer, Jeremy Round, as well as the four part poem ‘Water Music’ and an extended meditation on language, love and history titled ‘Rosetta’. For Herbert Lomas the book showed "Great intelligence and subtlety . . . clearly an outstanding talent from whom great things can be expected". Anne Stevenson
wrote: "Poetry these days, often feels obliged to place conscience over art and make language work for precision, not complexity. In Martyn Crucefix's first collection, something else happens . . . daring to break with secular convention, Crucefix will become a real artist".
: winner of the Oxford Poetry
Magazine Translation Competition judged by David Constantine
Rilke's third Duino Elegy
Rilke's fourth Duino Elegy
'Among the Ranks of the Angels: Rilke's Influence on British Poetry': broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27 March 2011
On Milton's On Education: BBC broadcast and on the web
“The Drunken Porter Does Poetry: Metre and Voice in the Poems of Tony Harrison,” Originally published in Tony Harrison: Loiner, edited by Sandie Byrne, Clarendon Press, 1997, pp. 161-70.
Enitharmon Press
Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in poetry.The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented spiritual beauty and poetic inspiration. The press's logo "derives from a Blake woodcut".-History:The Press was...
, his work ranges widely from vivid and tender lyrics to writing that pushes the boundaries of the extended narrative poem. His themes encompass questions of history and identity (particularly in the 1997 collection A Madder Ghost) and - influenced by his translations of Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
- his more recent work focuses on the transformations of imagination and momentary epiphanies.
Life
Crucefix attended Trowbridge Boys High School, then spent a year studying Medicine at Guys Hospital Medical School, before switching to take a first class degree in English Literature at Lancaster UniversityLancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
. He completed a D.Phil. at Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
, writing on the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
and Enlightenment and Romantic theories of language. He currently teaches in North London and is married to Louise Tulip. They have two children.
Poetry
Crucefix has won numerous prizes including an Eric Gregory AwardEric Gregory Award
The Eric Gregory Award is given by the Society of Authors to British poets under 30 on submission. The awards are up to a sum value of £24000 annually....
and a Hawthornden Fellowship. He has published 5 original collections: Beneath Tremendous Rain (Enitharmon, 1990)http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=339; At the Mountjoy Hotel (Enitharmon, 1993)http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=490; On Whistler Mountain (Sinclair-Stevenson, 1994); A Madder Ghost (Enitharmon, 1997)http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=44; An English Nazareth (Enitharmon, 2004) http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=42; Hurt (Enitharmon, 2010).http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=386. His translation of Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
’s Duino Elegies (Enitharmon, 2006) http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/store/products/ec_view.asp?PID=207 was shortlisted for the 2007 Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation and hailed as “unlikely to be bettered for very many years” (Magma) and by the Popescu judges as “a milestone of translation and a landmark in European poetry”.
An early selection of Crucefix’s work secured an Eric Gregory Award in 1984 and appeared in The Gregory Poems: The Best of the Young British Poets 1983-84, edited and chosen by John Fuller
John Fuller
John Fuller may refer to:* John Fuller , Master of Jesus College, Cambridge* John Fuller , British Member of Parliament for Sussex, 1713–1715...
and Howard Sergeant
Howard Sergeant
Herbert Sergeant MBE was a poet and editor from Hull and the publisher of Britain's oldest independent poetry magazine Outposts. He was appointed MBE in 1978 for services to literature....
. His first book, Beneath Tremendous Rain (Enitharmon, 1990) was published two years after he had been featured by Peter Forbes
Peter Forbes
Peter Forbes is a Scottish actor.In the theatre he has appeared in the musical Mamma Mia! at the Prince Edward Theatre in London, Twelfth Night, Richard III and A Midsummer Night's Dream...
in a ‘New British Poets’ edition of Poetry Review. This collection contains his elegy for his friend, the poet and food writer, Jeremy Round, as well as the four part poem ‘Water Music’ and an extended meditation on language, love and history titled ‘Rosetta’. For Herbert Lomas the book showed "Great intelligence and subtlety . . . clearly an outstanding talent from whom great things can be expected". Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevenson is an American-British poet and writer.-Life:Stevenson's parents Louise Destler Stevenson and C.L. Stevenson met at a Cincinnati High School. They were living in Cambridge, England, where Charles was studying philosophy under I. A. Richards and Wittgenstein, when their first...
wrote: "Poetry these days, often feels obliged to place conscience over art and make language work for precision, not complexity. In Martyn Crucefix's first collection, something else happens . . . daring to break with secular convention, Crucefix will become a real artist".
Translations
'An Die Hofnung' ('Hope'), translated with Tim Turner from Friedrich HölderlinFriedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his...
: winner of the Oxford Poetry
Oxford Poetry
Oxford Poetry is a literary magazine based in Oxford, England. It is currently edited by Hamid Khanbhai and Thomas A Richards.Founded in 1910 by Basil Blackwell, its editors have included Dorothy L...
Magazine Translation Competition judged by David Constantine
David Constantine
David Constantine is a British poet and translator.Constantine is a Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford University, and a graduate of Wadham College, Oxford. He is co-editor of the literary journal Modern Poetry in Translation...
Rilke's third Duino Elegy
Rilke's fourth Duino Elegy
'Among the Ranks of the Angels: Rilke's Influence on British Poetry': broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27 March 2011
Critical Writing
On recent contemporary poetry about the war in Iraq.On Milton's On Education: BBC broadcast and on the web
“The Drunken Porter Does Poetry: Metre and Voice in the Poems of Tony Harrison,” Originally published in Tony Harrison: Loiner, edited by Sandie Byrne, Clarendon Press, 1997, pp. 161-70.