Anne Cluysenaar

Anne Alice Andrée Cluysenaar (15 March 1936 – 1 November 2014) was a Belgian-born poet and writer, who was a citizen of Ireland. She lived for much of her life in the UK, latterly in Wales, and published and edited several volumes of verse. She was a member of the Cluysenaar family, and was murdered by her stepson during a family argument.

Anne Cluysenaar
BornAnne Alice Andrée Cluysenaar
(1936-03-15)15 March 1936
Brussels, Belgium
Died1 November 2014(2014-11-01) (aged 78)
Llantrisant, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
Pen nameAnne Jackson
OccupationPoet, lecturer, writer
LanguageEnglish
CitizenshipIrish
EducationTrinity College, Dublin
University of Edinburgh
SpouseWalter Freeman Jackson

Life and career
See also: Cluysenaar family

Anne Cluysenaar was born in Brussels,[1] the daughter of artist John Cluysenaar and his wife, Sybil Fitzgerald Hewat, a painter. Both her parents were of Scottish and Belgian descent.[2] Her grandfather, painter André Cluysenaar, was the grandson of architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar.[3]

Anne Cluysenaar moved with her family to Britain just before the start of the Second World War, and started writing poems as a child.[4] The family lived initially in Somerset, and she was educated in boarding schools in England and Scotland,[2] before moving to Ireland in 1950.[5]

After her parents returned to Belgium she studied English and French Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, winning the Vice-Chancellor's prize for poetry in 1956 and graduating in 1957. She took out Irish citizenship in 1961,[6][7][8] and her verse was published in the 1963 collection New Poets of Ireland.[2] In 1963, she gained a diploma in general linguistics at the University of Edinburgh.[6]

She became a lecturer in literature, linguistics, and creative writing, at various universities in England and Scotland, including Manchester (1957–58), Aberdeen (1963–65), Lancaster (1965–71), Birmingham (1973-76), and Sheffield City Polytechnic (1976–89).[1] She also spent a period as reader to the partially sighted critic Percy Lubbock, and worked for a time at the Chester Beatty Library of Oriental Manuscripts in Dublin.[2] From 1990 on, she taught creative writing on a part-time basis at the University of Wales, Cardiff. From the 1970s until her death, she also ran workshops in museums, galleries, schools, community centres and elsewhere.[2][4]

She established two literary magazines, Scintilla and Sheaf, and published more than a dozen volumes of her own verse, including A Fan of Shadows (1967), Nodes (1969), Double Helix (1982), Timeslips (1997), Batu-Angas: Envisioning Nature with Alfred Russel Wallace (2008), Water to Breathe (2009), and Touching Distances: Diary Poems (2014).[6][9][10][11] Her poems appeared in several anthologies. She was Chair of the Verbal Arts Association between 1983 and 1986, and was active in the Poetry Society.[6]

She co-founded the Usk Valley Vaughan Association, and edited The Selected Poems of Henry Vaughan.[4][7][10] In 2001 she was elected as a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.[1][12] She wrote the scripts for two son-et-lumière shows, Echoes in Stone and Footsteps on the Sands of Time performed at Tintern Abbey and Caldicot Castle respectively, and contributed verse as part of Chepstow's regeneration scheme, engraved on paving and walls in the town centre in 2005.[5]

In later years she ran a smallholding at Little Wentwood Farm near Llantrisant, Monmouthshire, the home she shared with her husband, Walter Freeman Jackson;[8] whom she married in 1976.[1]

Death

Her death was reported by Gwent Police under her married name of Anne Jackson, after her body was found at her home near Usk on 1 November 2014.[10] Her stepson, Timothy Jackson, aged 48, appeared in Newport Magistrates Court on 4 November charged with her murder and was remanded in custody.[13][14] At her inquest, it was reported that she had died from stab wounds to her neck and chest.[15] Jackson initially pleaded not guilty to her murder,[16] but changed his plea to guilty at Cardiff Crown Court on 24 February 2015. It was said that he had developed an irrational hatred of his stepmother and had killed her with a kitchen knife during an argument. On 26 March, Jackson was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, and was told by Judge Neil Bidder that he would serve at least 19 years before being eligible for parole.[17] His sentence was later reduced to 16 years and 8 months on appeal.[18]

In August 2015, a ceramic plaque in her memory was unveiled in the Owain Glyndwr Field in Usk.[19]

References
  1. International Who's Who in Poetry 2005, books.google.co.uk, pg. 319; accessed 15 November 2014.
  2. Meic Stephens, "Obituary: Anne Cluysenaar", The Independent; retrieved 14 November 2014.
  3. "Le Musée Charlier rend hommage aux Cluysenaar, famille de cinq générations d'artistes", rtbf.be, 3 November 2014; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. Anne Cluysenaar, SerenBooks.com. Retrieved 7 November 2014
  5. Francesca Gillett, "Woman whose death is at centre of murder probe was Usk poet", South Wales Argus, 3 November 2014; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  6. Cluysenaar, Anne Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 7 November 2014
  7. Interview by Lidia Vianu, January 2006; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  8. Anne Cluysenaar profile, Carcanet.co.uk; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  9. Anne Cluysenaar, Modern Poetry in Translation; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  10. "In Memoriam: Anne Cluysenaar" Archived 7 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, vaughanassociation.blogspot.co.uk, 4 November 2014; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  11. Touching Distances Archived 7 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, CinnamonPress.com, 7 November 2014; accessed 15 November 2014.
  12. Profile Archived 7 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, LiteratureWales.org; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  13. "Usk murder: Man, 48, charged over Anne Jackson's death", bbc.co.uk, 4 November 2014; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  14. "Step-son of murdered poet Anne Cluysenaar appears in court via videolink", South Wales Evening Post, 5 November 2014; retrieved 7 November 2014.
  15. "Poet Anne Jackson died of stab wounds after allegedly being attacked by her own stepson, inquest hears", Wales Online, 21 November 2014; retrieved 26 November 2014.
  16. "Anne Cluysenaar: Timothy Jackson pleads not guilty to murder of poet", BBC News, 19 January 2015; retrieved 20 January 2015.
  17. "Stepson of poet Anne Cluysenaar receives life sentence for her murder", The Guardian, 26 March 2015; retrieved 18 May 2015.
  18. BBC News, "Sentence reduced for stepson who murdered poet Anne Jackson", 13 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015
  19. Kath Skelton, "Plaque unveiled in memory of Usk poet murder victim", Monmouthshire Free Press, 7 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015
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