Eratosphere Forums - Metrical Poetry, Free Verse, Fiction, Art, Critique, Discussions Able Muse - a review of poetry, prose and art

Forum Left Top

Notices

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Unread 06-29-2017, 05:32 AM
Adam Elgar Adam Elgar is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 3,954
Default Helen Dunmore

I'd like to note the passing of this dear friend, a poet and novelist who held a central position in British literary life for the past couple of decades. Her funeral was held yesterday at Clifton Cathedral in Bristol, and was a beautiful though immensely sad occasion.

Helen was an invaluable advocate for other writers, and for painters too, and, without exaggeration, the kindest and most generous person I have been fortunate enough to know. It's impossible to say how much she will be missed by a great many people.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Unread 06-29-2017, 06:47 AM
Nigel Mace Nigel Mace is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: The Borders, Andalucia and Italy
Posts: 1,537
Default

A grievous loss indeed, Adam. We were both very sad, when we read of her death. You were very privileged to have known her. Best thoughts, Nigel and Vanessa.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Unread 06-30-2017, 12:43 AM
Ann Drysdale's Avatar
Ann Drysdale Ann Drysdale is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Old South Wales (UK)
Posts: 6,667
Default

She was a truly beautiful woman in all aspects of herself. A joy to the world. She will be missed.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Unread 06-30-2017, 03:17 AM
Adam Elgar Adam Elgar is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 3,954
Default

Thank you, Nigel and Ann. It's good to know that the world can still create such people, and that's a big consolation.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Unread 06-30-2017, 05:46 AM
Clive Watkins Clive Watkins is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Yorkshire, UK
Posts: 2,479
Default

Let me belatedly add my voice to this thread. I was lucky enough to meet Helen Dunmore in the early 1980s at a time when her reputation was purely for her poetry. She tutored a week-long residential course I took part in at Lumb Bank, here in Yorkshire, an eighteenth-century mill-owner’s house that had once been the property of Ted Hughes. Helen was an excellent tutor, blending generous encouragement with a sharp critical intelligence for the developing processes of particular poems. Everyone found in her the admirable traits referred to above, and she was liked and admired by us all, both for her literary skills and for her human qualities.

For a year or so after the course closed, I corresponded with her. She was just as supportive and generous on paper as she had been in person.

Derek Walcott was once asked in an interview to describe his friend, Seamus Heaney, who had recently died. He was so overcome by emotion he could utter only one word: “Beautiful”. The same might be said of Helen. She is sadly missed by, I imagine, a great many.

Clive Watkins

Last edited by Clive Watkins; 06-30-2017 at 07:01 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Unread 06-30-2017, 06:45 AM
Jayne Osborn's Avatar
Jayne Osborn Jayne Osborn is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Middle England
Posts: 6,950
Default

I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but Helen Dunmore was indeed a beautiful woman, and died far too young.
Sad news.

Jayne
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



Forum Right Top
Forum Left Bottom Forum Right Bottom
 
Right Left
Member Login
Forgot password?
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Statistics:
Forum Members: 8,399
Total Threads: 21,841
Total Posts: 270,805
There are 67 users
currently browsing forums.
Forum LeftForum Right


Forum Sponsor:
Donate & Support Able Muse / Eratosphere
Forum LeftForum Right
Right Right
Right Bottom Left Right Bottom Right

Hosted by ApplauZ Online