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Charles Tomlinson

チャールズ・トムリンソン

Charles Tomlinson

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1927-01-08 （Penkhull, England）
Died
2015-08-22 age 88
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Residence History
Penkhull (birth) → Basford, Stoke-on-Trent (grew up) → London (taught in Camden Town; student period) → Italy (short period as Percy Lubbock's secretary) → Bristol (long-term residence; University post) → Wotton-under-Edge

Career

Occupations
poet, translator, academic, graphic artist / illustrator
Active Years
1951-2015
Affiliations
University of Bristol, Department of English (Emeritus Professor)
Memberships
Honorary Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Honorary Fellow, Modern Language Association
Influenced By
William Carlos Williams, George Oppen, Marianne Moore, Louis Zukofsky, Wallace Stevens, Georgia O'Keeffe (artist), Arshile Gorky (artist), Octavio Paz (collaborator)

Education

Longton High School
Country: United Kingdom
Secondary education
Queens' College, Cambridge
English / Department of English
Country: United Kingdom
Studied with Donald Davie
Royal Holloway, University of London
Degree: M.A.（在籍・研究）
Country: United Kingdom
Studied as an M.A. student

Awards

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
2001
Organization: British honours system / The Crown
Result: 受章
Bennett Award (Hudson Review)
1993
Organization: Hudson Review
Result: 受賞
The New Criterion Poetry Prize
2002
Organization: The New Criterion
Result: 受賞
Premio Internazionale di Poesie Ennio Flaiano
2001
Organization: Ennio Flaiano Prize (organisers)
Result: 受賞
Premio Internazionale di Poesia Attilio Bertolucci
2004
Organization: Attilio Bertolucci International Poetry Prize
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Relations and Contraries

1951 Poetry

Tomlinson's first book of poems, containing early experimental pieces and observations.

natureperceptionrelations and contraries
Translations

The Necklace

1955 Poetry

One of his early notable collections, delicately portraying everyday observation and memory.

memorythe everydaylandscape

Collected Poems

1985 Collected poetry

A comprehensive collection of his poetry, published by Oxford University Press.

place and returnnature and citymeditation

The Vineyard Above the Sea

1999 Poetry

A mature collection notable for its references to landscape, memory, and visual art.

visual artlandscapememory

Cracks in the Universe

2006 Poetry

A late collection that evokes images of the universe, time, and fissures.

timeuniversecracks

Bibliography

  • Relations and Contraries (1951)
  • The Necklace (1955)
  • Seeing is Believing (1958)
  • A Peopled Landscape (1963)
  • American Scenes and Other Poems (1966)
  • The Way of a World (1969)
  • Penguin Modern Poets (with Alan Brownjohn and Michael Hamburger, 1969)
  • America West Southwest (1970)
  • Renga: A Chain of Poems (with Octavio Paz, Jacques Roubaud, Edoardo Sanguineti, 1971)
  • Written on Water (1972)
  • The Way in and Other Poems (1974)
  • In Black and White: The Graphics of Charles Tomlinson (1975)
  • The Shaft (1978)
  • Selected Poems 1951–1974 (1978)
  • Airborn / Hijos del Aire (with Octavio Paz, 1981)
  • Some Americans: A Personal Record (1981)
  • Poetry and Metamorphosis (1983)
  • Notes from New York and Other Poems (1984)
  • Collected Poems (1985)
  • Eden: Graphics and Poetry (1985)
  • The Return (1987)
  • Annunciations (1989)
  • The Door in the Wall (1992)
  • Jubilation (1995)
  • Selected Poems 1955–1997 (1997)
  • The Vineyard Above the Sea (1999)
  • American Essays: Making it New (2001)
  • Metamorphoses: Poetry and Translation (2003)
  • Skywriting (2003)
  • Cracks in the Universe (2006)
  • New Collected Poems (2009)
  • Swimming Chenango Lake: Selected Poems (ed. 2018)

Adaptations

  • BBC Arena feature (December 1975) focussing on In Black and White

Translations by Author

  • Antonio Machado (Spanish poetry)
  • Fyodor Tyutchev (Russian poetry)
  • César Vallejo (Spanish poetry)
  • Attilio Bertolucci (Italian poetry)

Translations of Works

  • Tomlinson's poetry has been translated into Spanish, Italian and French (translated by Jordi Doce, Octavio Paz, Silvano Sabbadini, etc.)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
meditative and intellectual voiceclear, visually and sonically attentive styleobservation-based diction
Recurring Motifs
place and returnlandscape (native Stoke and modern Bristol)dialogue with visual arttime and memory

Legacy

Charles Tomlinson was one of Britain's prominent poets, translators and academics, internationally recognised for both his poetry and translations. His long academic career, graphic work, and editing and translation activities promoted literary exchange; he received honours including a CBE.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Honorary Fellow)
  • Modern Language Association (Honorary Fellow)

Archives

  • Recordings of his poems and translations at Keele University (PennSound holdings)
  • University of Bristol archives (records from his academic career)

In Popular Culture

  • BBC Arena feature (1975)
  • PennSound audio recordings hosted by the University of Pennsylvania

Quotes

  • "Wallace Stevens was the guiding star [Tomlinson] initially steered by."
    Source: Michael Schmidt, Lives of the Poets (2007)
  • "Distrust of the 'willed extremism' of poets like Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton."
    Source: Michael Schmidt, Lives of the Poets (2007)

Trivia

  • He worked as a graphic artist and published In Black and White: The Graphics of Charles Tomlinson.
  • He recorded T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land; recordings of his readings are held by Keele University / PennSound.
  • Collaborated with Octavio Paz and others, and edited several important translations and anthologies.