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Andrew Motion

アンドリュー・モーション

Andoryū Mōshon

Aliases: Sir Andrew Motion / Andrew R. M. Motion

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1952-10-26 （London, England）
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Residence History
Kimpton, Hertfordshire → Hatfield Heath, Essex → Stisted, Essex → London (part-time) → Baltimore, Maryland, USA (part-time)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Novelist, Biographer, Academic, Editor
Active Years
1976-
Affiliations
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), The Poetry Archive (founder/initiator), Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars (faculty, Homewood Professor of the Arts), Campaign to Protect Rural England (President), Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (Chair), Friends of the British Library (vice-president), English Heritage Blue Plaques Panel (member)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (FRSL), English Heritage Blue Plaques Panel
Influenced By
Philip Larkin, W. H. Auden, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Wordsworth, John Keats, Edward Thomas

Education

Radley College
Country: United Kingdom
Secondary/boarding school
University College, Oxford
Faculty of Humanities (English) / English
Degree: BA (first-class honours)
Period: 1971–1975
Year of Graduation: 1975
Country: United Kingdom
Winner of the Newdigate Prize
University of Oxford (MLitt)
Faculty of Humanities (English) / English literature (study of Edward Thomas)
Degree: MLitt
Period: 1975–1976
Year of Graduation: 1976
Country: United Kingdom
MLitt on the poetry of Edward Thomas

Awards

Newdigate Prize
1975
Organization: University of Oxford
Result: winner
Eric Gregory Award
1976
Organization: Eric Gregory Award
Result: winner
Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition
1981
Work: The Letter
Organization: Arvon Foundation
Result: winner
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
1984
Work: Dangerous Play: Poems 1974–1984
Organization: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
Result: winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1987
Work: The Lamberts
Organization: Somerset Maugham Award
Result: winner
Dylan Thomas Prize
1987
Work: Natural Causes
Organization: Dylan Thomas Prize
Result: winner
Whitbread Prize for Biography
1994
Work: Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life
Category: Biography
Organization: Whitbread/Costa
Result: winner
Poet Laureate (appointed)
1999
Organization: United Kingdom (Royal appointment)
Result: appointed (1999–2009)
Knight Bachelor
2009
Organization: The Crown (United Kingdom)
Result: honoured
Wilfred Owen Poetry Award
2014
Organization: Wilfred Owen Prize
Result: winner
Ted Hughes Award
2015
Work: Coming Home (radio programme)
Organization: Ted Hughes Award
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Pleasure Steamers

1978 Poetry collection

Early collection showing youthful perspective and an emerging interest in landscape.

natureyouthnostalgia

Natural Causes

1987 Poetry collection

A mature collection dealing with personal memory, loss and family history.

memorylossfamily

Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life

1993 Biography

An authoritative biography of Philip Larkin that significantly revised Larkin's reputation; winner of the Whitbread Prize.

biographyliterary studyliterary history

Public Property

2002 Poetry collection

Collection addressing contemporary social issues and the public sphere, reflecting aspects of his laureateship.

public lifesocial issuespolitical verse

Coming Home

2015 Poetry / Radio programme

A poetic radio piece based on recordings of British soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan; winner of the Ted Hughes Award.

warreturnmemory
Adaptations
  • [Radio] Coming Home (radio programme) (2015)

Silver

2012 Novel (sequel)

A sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, set a generation on from the original adventure.

adventurelegacymorality

Bibliography

  • The Pleasure Steamers (1978)
  • Independence (1981)
  • Dangerous Play: Poems 1974–1984 (1984)
  • Natural Causes (1987)
  • Love in a Life (1991)
  • Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life (1993)
  • Salt Water (1997)
  • Selected Poems 1976–1997 (1998)
  • Public Property (2002)
  • Silver (2012)
  • Coming Home (2015)
  • Essex Clay (2018)

Adaptations

  • Coming Home (radio programme)
  • Incoming (play, premiered 2011)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical with narrative elementsclear, unadorned languagea postmodern-romantic sensibility
Recurring Motifs
countryside and landscapememory and family historywar and returntime and loss

Legacy

Andrew Motion is a leading contemporary British poet who served as Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009, promoting public-facing poetry. He founded the Poetry Archive and, through his authoritative biography of Philip Larkin and other work, has had a lasting influence on poetry preservation and scholarship.

Museums

  • Papers of Andrew Motion (British Library) British Library, London

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature

Archives

  • British Library (Papers of Andrew Motion)

In Popular Culture

  • TV appearance: Jamie's Dream School (2011) as poetry teacher
  • Theatre participation: contributed to Bush Theatre's Sixty-Six Books project

Quotes

  • My wish to write a poem is inseparable from my wish to explain something to myself.
    Source: Andrew Motion (essay / interview) (2009)

Trivia

  • He broke with the tradition of a lifetime Poet Laureate, stipulating a ten-year term.
  • Instrumental in founding the Poetry Archive to preserve recordings of poets reading their work.
  • Knighted in 2009 (Knight Bachelor).
  • Won the Ted Hughes Award in 2015 for Coming Home.
  • Maintains part-time residence in Baltimore, USA.