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Wendy Cope

ウェンディ・コープ

Wendy Cope

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1945-07-21 （Erith, Kent, England）
Nationality
British
Languages
English

Career

Occupations
Poet, Primary-school teacher, Editor, Television critic
Active Years
1980-

Education

St Hilda's College, Oxford
History
Country: United Kingdom
Westminster College, Oxford
Country: United Kingdom
Spent fourteen years working as a primary-school teacher after training

Awards

Cholmondeley Award
1987
Organization: Society of Authors / Cholmondeley Award committee
Result: 受賞
American Academy of Arts and Letters award
1995
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
Michael Braude Award for Light Verse
1995
Organization: American literary organisation
Result: 受賞
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
2010
Organization: The British government
Result: 叙勲
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
1992
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: 選出

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis

1986 Poetry collection

An early, influential collection featuring light, witty poems and haiku-like pieces focusing on everyday observation and relationships.

everyday lifelovehumourfemale perspective
Adaptations
  • [Music (song setting)] Strugnell's Haiku (set by Colin Matthews) (1990)

Serious Concerns

1992 Poetry collection

One of her most popular books, noted for witty rhymes and sharp observations of everyday life.

humourhuman relationshipsloneliness

If I Don't Know

2001 Poetry collection

A mid-career collection showing darker tones and freer verse alongside her characteristic wit.

anxietyintrospectionhope

Family Values

2011 Poetry collection

A later collection reflecting a more mature voice, with insights into private and family life.

familymaturityeveryday life

Anecdotal Evidence

2018 Poetry collection

A recent collection that Cope has cited as a personal favourite, containing anecdotal and reflective pieces.

memoir-like reflectionpersonal experienceageing

Bibliography

  • Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (1986)
  • Serious Concerns (1992)
  • If I Don't Know (2001)
  • Family Values (2011)
  • Anecdotal Evidence (2018)
  • Collected Poems (2024)

Adaptations

  • Strugnell's Haiku (set to music by Colin Matthews, 1990)
  • "Waterloo Bridge" (song by Jools Holland using Cope's poem 'After The Lunch', 2015)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
light, witty rhymed verseconcise, conversational dictionlater shift toward free verse and darker tones
Recurring Motifs
observations of everyday liferelationships and romancehumour and ironysuggestions of depression and solitude

Health

  • Depression
    長年（キャリアを通じて断続的）
    Has influenced her work repeatedly and is reflected in the darker tone of some later poems.

Legacy

Wendy Cope has gained a wide readership for her witty, sharply observed poems and is one of the popular contemporary English poets; she has also received critical recognition, including election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Museums

  • British Library (Wendy Cope archive) London, England Opened in 2011

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)

Archives

  • British Library holdings (manuscripts, notebooks, emails, etc.)

In Popular Culture

  • Poems like 'The Orange' gained viral popularity on social media, leading to merchandise and new editions.

Quotes

  • Wendy Cope is without doubt the wittiest of contemporary English poets, and says a lot of extremely serious things.
    Source: Rowan Williams (critic) (2008)
  • (On selling her archive) 'I wanted to find a good home for my archive.'
    Source: Wendy Cope (quoted in The Guardian) (2011)

Trivia

  • Worked as a primary-school teacher for fourteen years after training.
  • Was a popular candidate in a 1998 BBC Radio 4 poll for Poet Laureate.
  • Married Lachlan Mackinnon in 2013 after living together for many years.
  • The British Library purchased her archive in 2011, including some 40,000 emails.