Matthew Francis (poet)

Matthew Francis (born 20 November 1956 in Hampshire, United Kingdom) is a British poet, editor of W. S. Graham's New Collected Poems,[1] and a professor at the Aberystwyth University.[1] His status as a contemporary British poet is well known. In 2004, Francis was included on the Poetry Book Society's list of the 20 best modern poets as selected by a panel chaired by poet laureate Andrew Motion.[2] He is revered for his impressive wordplay and sharp imagination, and his beautifully elegant phrasing makes him a very popular poet.

Matthew Francis

Personal life

Francis lived in Winchester for many years. He worked for ten years in the computer industry. After his time spent in the computer industry, he went back to university to study the work of W. S. Graham. Soon after he edited Graham's New Collected Poems and authored a study on Graham called Where the People Are.[1] He now lives in Wales with his wife, Creina, where he lectures in creative writing at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.[1][3]

Writing

Amy Wack of Poetry Wales categorized his writing by saying, "Francis's style is clever ebullient, pacey, often brilliant." His poem The Ornamental Hermit won him the TLS/Blackwell's Prize 2000. City Autumn won the national Gathering Swallows prize for the best poem by a published poet in response to Keats' To Autumn. His short story collection Singing a Man to Death was shortlisted in the fiction category of the Wales Book of the Year in 2013.[4] In addition to his poetry, Francis also writes on W. S. Graham[5] and Sir John Mandeville[6]


Bibliography
  • The Mabinogi (Faber & Faber, 2017)
  • The Book of the Needle (Cinnamon Press, 2014)
  • Muscovy (Faber & Faber, 2013)
  • Singing a Man to Death (Cinnamon Press, 2012)
  • Mandeville (Faber & Faber, 2008)
  • Whereabouts (Rufus Books, 2005)
  • Where the People Are (2004; ISBN 1-84471-048-3)
  • Dragons (2001)
  • The Ornamental Hermit (2000)
  • AMERICAN FUGUE (2000)
  • City Autumn
  • Blizzard (1996)
  • Whom (1989)

References
  1. "Dr Matthew Francis". Department of English & Creative Writing, Aberystwyth University.
  2. "Poet joins the 'next generation'". BBC News Wales. 1 July 2004.
  3. "Matthew Francis". Faber & Faber (publisher).
  4. "Wales Book of the Year 2013: Nine unveiled for shortlist launched". BBC News Wales. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  5. Matthew Francis (March 2012). "Editing W.S. Graham". Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry. 4 (1): 11–22.
  6. Francis, Matthew (2012). "Rewriting Mandeville's Travels". In Weiss, Julian; Salih, Sarah (eds.). Locating the Middle Ages: The Spaces and Places of Medieval Culture. King's College London Medieval Studies. London: Kings College, Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies. pp. 227–235. ISBN 9780953983872.
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