Carol Rumens
Quick Facts
Biography
Carol Rumens FRSL (born 10 December 1944 Forest Hill, South London) is a British poet.
Life
Carol Rumens was born in Forest Hill, South London. She won a scholarship to grammar school and later studied Philosophy at London University, but left before completing her degree. She gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Writing for the Stage (with Distinction) from City College Manchester in 2001.
She taught at University of Kent at Canterbury (1983-5), Queen's University Belfast (1991-3 and 1995-8)), University College Cork (1994), University of Stockholm (1999), and University of Hull. As visiting Professor of Creative Writing, she now teaches at the University of Wales, Bangor. and the University of Hull.
Rumens was Poetry Editor for the publisher Quarto (1982-4) and the Literary Review (1984–1988). Her work has appeared in The Guardian, and Harper's. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984.
Awards
- 1981 Alice Hunt Bartlett Award (joint winner) Unplayed Music
- 1981 New Statesman Prudence Farmer Award An Easter Garland
- 1984 Cholmondeley Award
- 1998 Belfast Arts Award for Literature (shortlist) Holding Pattern
- 1998 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) (shortlist - A Day in the Life of Farmer Dream)
- 2001 Cardiff International Poetry Competition (Fourth Prize - Kings of the Playground)
- 2001 National Poetry Competition (Stay in Touch)
- 2002 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) (shortlist)
Works
Poetry
- A Necklace of Mirrors Ulsterman, 1978
- Icon Waves The Star Wheel Press, 1986
Novels
Editor
- Slipping Glimpses: Winter Poetry Supplement (editor) Poetry Book Society, 1985
- Two Women Dancing: New and Selected Poems of Elizabeth Bartlett (editor) Bloodaxe, 1995
- Old City, New Rumours: A Hull Anthology (editor Five Leaves Press, 2010
Plays
- Nearly Siberia (Pascal Theatre Company, Newcastle and London, 1989)
- The Freak of the Week Show (EyeSpy Theatre Company, East Didsbury Studio, Manchester, 2001)
- Suzanne Hecabe (Arden School of Theatre, Manchester, 2002).
Translations
- Pencil Letter /Irina Ratushinskaya (translator) Bloodaxe, 1988
- After Pushkin (contributor) Carcanet, 2000 with Yuri Drobyshev
- Yevgenii Rein: Selected Poems (translator) Bloodaxe, 2001
Non-fiction
- Self into Song: Newcastle/Bloodaxe Poetry Lectures Bloodaxe, 2006