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U A Fanthorpe

Sue Lawley's castaway is poet U A Fanthorpe.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is one of Britain's best loved poets - U A Fanthorpe.
She was the first woman ever to be nominated for the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry and in 2003 was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. But she found her vocation late in life. She trained as a teacher and was head of the English department at Cheltenham Ladies College when she says she felt her life was in crisis and became a 'middle aged drop-out'. Against the advice of her family and to the surprise of many friends, she quit teaching to become a temporary clerical worker. She took a job as a clerk in a hospital for neuro-psychiatric patients and, within days, knew that she had to write about what she saw - to bear witness to what the patients were experiencing. Her first collection of poems, Side Effects, was published in 1978 when U A Fanthorpe was 49.

Since then she has written many more volumes. Her poems use a great deal of humour and a lot of dialogue. In addition to her work about patients and hospitals, much of her writing is concerned with war and its effects on children on the nature of Englishness and the British character.

During the interview, U A Fanthorpe reads extracts from the following poems: 'The List' taken from Selected Poems, and 'Atlas' from Safe As Houses.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Come Away With Fellow Sailors by Henry Purcell
Book: A book to identify birdlife on the island
Luxury: Bath with soap and towels

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Sun 13 Feb 2005 11:15
麻豆社 Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Henry Purcell

      Come away, fellow sailors (from Dido and Aeneas)

      Orchestra: The Scholars Baroque Ensemble

      • Dido And Aeneas.
      • Naxos.

  • Cilla Black

    Anyone Who Had A Heart

    • 30 Years of Number One.
    • Connoisseur Collection.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Surely He hath borne our griefs (from Messiah)

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Choir Conductor: G Solti

    • Handel: Messiah.
    • Decca.

  • A. E. Housman/George Butterworth

    Is My Team Ploughing?

    Soloist: Peter Pears with Benjamin Britten

    • An Anthology of English Songs Vol. 3.
    • Decca.

  • Kathleen Ferrier

    I Know Where I Am Going

    • Blow the Wind Southerly.
    • Decca.

  • Franz Schubert

    Der Erlk枚nig (The Earl King), D328

    Soloist: Peter Dawson

    • Song for Everyone.
    • Music For Pleasure France.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    The Man Who Can Feel Love Must Have A Good Heart

    Soloist: Irmagard Seefried & Erich Kunz Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Conductor: Herbert von Karajan

    • The Magic Flute.
    • EMI.

  • Roly Veitch and his Blaydon Aces

    Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinny

    • Canny Tynside.
    • MCPS.

  • Book Choice

    • A book to identify birdlife on the island

  • Luxury Choice

    • Bath with soap and towels

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest U A Fanthorpe

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 May 2004 11:15
    麻豆社 Radio 4
  • Fri 14 May 2004 09:00
    麻豆社 Radio 4
  • Sun 13 Feb 2005 11:15
    麻豆社 Radio 4

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