David Constantine at Durham Book Festival

David John Constantine (born 1944) is an English poet, short story writer, novelist, and translator.

Life and career

Born in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, Constantine read Modern Languages at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, and was a Fellow of

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, until 2000, when he became a Supernumerary Fellow. He lectured in German at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

from 1969 to 1981 and at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

from 1981 to 2000. He was the co-editor of the literary journal '' Modern Poetry in Translation''. Along with the Irish poet Bernard O'Donoghue, he is commissioning editor of the Oxford Poets imprint of

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom. Originally a student magazine devised by undergraduates collaborating between Oxford and Cambridge, it was refounded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was nam ...

and has been a chief judge for the T. S. Eliot Prize. His collections of poetry include ''Madder'', ''Watching for Dolphins'', ''Caspar Hauser'', ''The Pelt of Wasps'', ''Something for the Ghosts'', ''Collected Poems'' and ''Nine Fathom Deep''. He was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2020. He is a translator of Hölderlin, Brecht,

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, Kleist, Michaux and Jaccottet. In 2024 he published ''A Bird Called Elaeus'', his translation and arrangement of poems from the

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' () is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical Greece, Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Palatine ...

. He won the Popescu Prize for translation in 2003 and was shortlisted in 2015. Constantine has published seven collections of short stories. In 2013, his collection ''Tea at the Midland and Other Stories'' won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, making Constantine the first English writer to win this award. The title story from this collection won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2010. His other collections of short stories include ''Under the Dam'' (2005), ''The Shieling'' (2009), which was shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and ''The Dressing-Up Box and Other Stories'' (2019). In 2015, the film '' 45 Years'', based on Constantine's short story "In Another Country", was released. The film stars Tom Courtenay and

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging London, Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film ''Georgy Girl'', which starred Lynn ...

. The film won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

and Best British/Irish Film at the

London Film Critics' Circle The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally. The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the ...

awards. Rampling was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for her performance. Constantine is also author of two novels, ''Davies'' and ''The Life-Writer'', and a biography, ''Fields of Fire: A Life of Sir William Hamilton''.

Awards and honours

* 2002 Whitbread Poetry Prize, shortlist, ''Watching for Dolphins'' * 2003 Popescu Prize, translation of Hans Magnus Enzensberger's ''Lighter than Air'' * 2010 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, shortlist, ''The Shieling'' * 2010 BBC National Short Story Award, "Tea at the Midland" * 2013 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, ''Tea at the Midland and Other Stories'' * 2020 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''A Brightness to Cast Shadows'' (1980), Bloodaxe Books, * ''Watching for Dolphins'' (1983) * ''Selected Poems'' (1991) * ''Caspar Hauser'' (1994) * ''The Pelt of Wasps'' (1998) * ''Something for the Ghosts'' (2002) * ''Nine Fathoms Deep'' (2009) * ''Elder''(2014) * ''Belongings'' (2020)

Short stories

* ''Back at the Spike'' (1994) * ''Under the Dam'' (2005) * ''The Shieling'' (2009) * ''Tea at the Midland and Other Stories'' (2012) * ''In Another Country: Selected Stories'' (2015) * ''The Dressing-Up Box and Other Stories'' (2019) * ''Rivers of the Unspoilt World'' (2022)

Novels

* ''Davies'' (1985) * ''The Life-Writer'' (2015)

Criticism

* ''Early Greek Travellers and the Hellenic Ideal'' (1984) * ''Poetry: The Literary Agenda'' (2013)

Translations

* Bertolt Brecht: ''The Antigone of Sophocles'' * ''The Collected Poems of Bertolt Brecht'' (translated with Tom Kuhn) * Hans Magnus Enzensberger: ''Lighter than Air'' * Hans Magnus Enzensberger: ''New Selected Poems'' * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: ''Faust, Part 1'' * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: ''Faust, Part 2'' * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: ''Elective Affinities'' * Friedrich Hölderlin: ''Sophocles: Oedipus and Antigone'' * Friedrich Hölderlin: ''Selected Poems'' * Philippe Jaccottet: ''Under Clouded Skies & Beauregard'' (translated with Mark Treharne) * Heinrich von Kleist: ''Selected Writings'' * Henri Michaux: ''Spaced, Displaced'' (translated with Helen Constantine) * ''A Bird Called Elaeus: poems for here and now from The Greek Anthology''

Reviews

* Hearn, Sheila G. (1981), review of ''A Brightness to Cast Shadows'', in Murray, Glen (ed.), '' Cencrastus'' No. 5, Summer 1981, pp. 51

References

External links

Profile
at the British Council
Profile and recordings
at the Poetry Archive
David Constantine
Comma Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine, David 1944 births Living people Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English male poets Runciman Award winners