About James Fenton

A poetic prodigy who published his first collection when he was just twenty‑three years old and winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, James Fenton is a poet, journalist, critic, academic and dramatist. He has served as Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford and worked in high‑profile journalistic roles. As well as having been employed as the political correspondent for the New Statesman,he has also worked as a war reporter and foreign correspondent.

A witty, playful poet, Fenton is always serious about the purpose of art. Influenced by W.H. Auden, he sees poetry as a public and political art form. Fenton tends to use ordinary, ‘unpoetic’ language in extraordinary, often athletic ways. He has a precise, musical ear for rhythm and his poems are driven by the powerful forward momentum of his metre. As well as private subjects, Fenton’s interests in geopolitics are often reflected in his poetry.