Andrew's Fans (5)

Andrew Motion

Author profile

born

October 26, 1952 in The United Kingdom

gender

male

genre

Poetry

About this author

edit data

Sir Andrew Motion, FRSL (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.

Motion was appointed Poet Laureate on 1 May 1999, following the death of Ted Hughes, the previous incumbent. The Nobel Prize-winning Northern Irish poet and translator Seamus Heaney had ruled himself out for the post. Breaking with the tradition of the laureate retaining the post for life, Motion stipulated that he would stay for only ten years. The yearly stipend of £200 was increased to £5,000 and he received the customary butt of sack.[9]
He wanted to write "poems about things in the news, and commissions from people or organisations involved with ordinary life," rather than be s...more Sir Andrew Motion, FRSL (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.

Motion was appointed Poet Laureate on 1 May 1999, following the death of Ted Hughes, the previous incumbent. The Nobel Prize-winning Northern Irish poet and translator Seamus Heaney had ruled himself out for the post. Breaking with the tradition of the laureate retaining the post for life, Motion stipulated that he would stay for only ten years. The yearly stipend of £200 was increased to £5,000 and he received the customary butt of sack.[9]
He wanted to write "poems about things in the news, and commissions from people or organisations involved with ordinary life," rather than be seen a 'courtier'. So, he wrote "for the TUC about liberty, about homelessness for the Salvation Army, about bullying for ChildLine, about the foot and mouth outbreak for the Today programme, about the Paddington rail disaster, the 11 September attacks and Harry Patch for the BBC, and more recently about shell shock for the charity Combat Stress, and climate change for the song cycle I've finished for Cambridge University with Peter Maxwell Davies."[10] In 2003, Motion wrote Regime change, a poem in protest at Invasion of Iraq from the point of view of Death walking the streets during the conflict,[11][12] and in 2005, Spring Wedding in honour of the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles. Commissioned to write in the honour of 109 year old Harry Patch, the last surviving 'Tommy' to have fought in World War I, Motion composed a five part poem, read and received by Patch at the Bishop's Palace in Wells in 2008.[13] As laureate, he also founded the Poetry Archive an on-line library of historic and contemporary recordings of poets reciting their own work.[14]
Motion remarked that he found some of the duties attendant to the post of poet laureate difficult and onerous and that the appointment had been "very, very damaging to [his] work".[15] The appointment of Motion met with criticism from some quarters.[16] As he prepared to stand down from the job, Motion published an article in The Guardian which concluded, "To have had 10 years working as laureate has been remarkable. Sometimes it's been remarkably difficult, the laureate has to take a lot of flak, one way or another. More often it has been remarkably fulfilling. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I'm giving it up – especially since I mean to continue working for poetry." [10][17] Motion spent his last day as Poet Laureate holding a creative writing class at his alma mater, Radley College, before giving a poetry reading and thanking Peter Way, the man who taught him English at Radley, for making him who he was. Carol Ann Duffy succeeded him as Poet Laureate on 1 May 2009.(less)

combine editions
Books by Andrew Motion

Average rating: 3.90 · 483 ratings · 94 reviews · 54 distinct works

	Keats 4.07 avg rating — 81 ratings — published 1997 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life 3.95 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 1982 — 4 editions	My rating:
	In the Blood: A Memoir of My Childhood 4.04 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Invention Of Dr Cake 2.96 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Selected Poems, 1976 1997 4.08 avg rating — 13 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:
	Silver: Return to Treasure Island 3.50 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2012 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Here To Eternity: An Anthology Of Poetry 3.92 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2001 — 4 editions	My rating:
	First World War Poems 4.36 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2003 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Wainewright the Poisoner The Memoir of Thomas Griffiths Wainewrigh - Regency author, painter, swindler, and probable murderer - brilliantly woven from historical fragments 2.93 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	My rating:
	The Cinder Path 3.17 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	My rating:

More books by Andrew Motion…

Upcoming Events

No scheduled events. Add an event.

Quotes by Andrew Motion

“Nor can we see the coffin of a person we have known, without experiencing some new shock of loss. In this respect, a coffin is like a mirror, in which we see the image of our own condition, and understand that our human differences, whether of appearance, morality or wealth, must finally be reconciled.”
― Andrew Motion, The Invention Of Dr Cake

2 people liked it

“...your pain brand new no matter how long it lasts which now means years...”
― Andrew Motion

1 person liked it

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
easy peasy readin...: What's everybody reading?	341	62	8 hours, 36 min ago

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Andrew to Goodreads.