Judith Kazantzis
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Judith Elizabeth Kazantzis (''née'' Pakenham; 14 August 1940 – 18 September 2018) was a British poet and political and social activist.


Life

Kazantzis was born in
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and grew up in
East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...
, the fourth child and second daughter of the eight children born to
Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...
and Lady Longford, and sister of novelist Rachel Billington and historians Dame Antonia Fraser and Thomas Pakenham. She attended
St Leonards-Mayfield School Mayfield School, previously St Leonards-Mayfield School, is an independent Catholic boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18. It is in the village of Mayfield, East Sussex, Mayfield in East Sussex. The school was founded by Mother Corneli ...
, and then
More House School More House School, Frensham is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent Special education in the United Kingdom, specialist school located in Surrey. It educates boys aged 8–19 who have Learning disability, learning disabilities. ...
in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
. She wrote her first poem aged seven. She took a Modern History degree at
Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...
. She began writing textbooks on history, worked for the Chelsea Labour Party and reviewed for the ''
Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
''. She avoided the usage of the title "Lady" as the daughter of an earl. During the 1970s she turned to poetry, fiction, painting and printmaking. She was a committed feminist, writing for the magazine ''
Spare Rib ''Spare Rib'' was a second-wave feminist magazine, founded in 1972 in the United Kingdom, that emerged from the counterculture of the late 1960s as a consequence of meetings involving, among others, Rosie Boycott and Marsha Rowe. ''Spare Rib'' ...
'', and was strongly influenced by
Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...
's poetry. In her own poetry she wrote about injustice and contributed short stories to '' Critical Quarterly'', which Plath had also written for. She supported the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...
and joined the protestors at
RAF Greenham Common Royal Air Force Greenham Common or more simply RAF Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the England, English county of Berkshire. The airfi ...
air base in the 1980s. She lived in London and later in East Sussex again, and spent three months a year in
Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...
where her second husband, Irving Weinman, taught. In the 1990s, she worked for KalayaanJustice for Migrant Domestic Workers. In 1999, she left
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
's Labour Party, and since 2001 helped campaign for Occupied Palestine (she was a founder of British Writers in Support of Palestine). She chaired the judges of the Longford Prize (named in honour of her father) in support of
prison reform Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, reduce recidivism or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are ...
. In 2003, she signed the Statement for Peace of the 21st
Key West Literary Seminar The Key West Literary Seminar is a writers' conference and festival held each January in Key West, Florida. It draws an international audience for readings, panel discussions, and workshops. History The seminar was founded in 1983 by David Kaufel ...
. In August 2010, Kazantzis contributed to an eBook collection of political poems entitled ''
Emergency Verse - Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
'', edited by Alan Morrison. Her poems have appeared in ''
The London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and poetry. A number of Nobel Laureates, including Annie Ernaux, Albert Camus, Doris Les ...
'', ''Stand'', '' Ambit'', ''
Agenda Agenda (: agendum) may refer to: Information management * Agenda (meeting), points to be discussed and acted upon, displayed as a list * Political agenda, the set of goals of an ideological group * Lotus Agenda, a DOS-based personal informatio ...
'', ''
Poetry Review ''The Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Wayne Holloway-Smith. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Mo ...
'', '' Poetry London'', '' Poetry Wales'', ''Bete Noire'', ''
The Honest Ulsterman ''The Honest Ulsterman'' is a long-running Northern Ireland literary magazine that was established by James Simmons in 1968. It was then edited for twenty years by Frank Ormsby. It has returned as an online publication from 2014 onwards. Th ...
'', '' Poetry Ireland'', '' Red Pepper'', ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'', ''
Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...
'', and '' Banipal''.


Marriage

She married lawyer Alexander John Kazantzis on 26 February 1963 and had two children. The couple divorced in 1982, but she kept his surname professionally. On 22 February 1998, she married lawyer and writer Irving Weinman.
Harry Mathews Harry Mathews (February 14, 1930 – January 25, 2017) was an American writer, the author of various novels, volumes of poetry and short fiction, and essays. Mathews was also a translator of the French language. Life Born in New York City to an ...
wrote an
epithalamium An epithalamium (; Latin form of Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον ''epithalamion'' from ἐπί ''epi'' "upon," and θάλαμος ''thalamos'' "nuptial chamber") is a poem written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. This fo ...
for Judith Kazantzis and Irving Weinman.


Death

Judith Kazantzis died on 18 September 2018, aged 78, from undisclosed causes. She was survived by two children, two stepchildren, and six siblings.


Awards

* 2005–06,
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...
Fellow at
Sussex University The University of Sussex is a public research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the South Downs National Park, and provide ...
"Judith Kazantzis , Fellow at University of Sussex, 2005/06"
The Royal Literary Fund.
* 2007,
Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...
'
Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards ( ) are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...


Works

*


Poetry

* * * * * * * * *''Let's Pretend''. 1984,
Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femin ...
* 96 pages. * *


Fiction

*


Translator

*


Anthologies

* ''Christmas Cards'' (Enitharmon Press, 2005) * ''A Celebration of Wilfred Owen'' (The Interpreter's House) * ''Poems On The Underground'' ( Cassell, 2001) * ''Parents'' (Enitharmon 2000) * ''Red Sky At Night'' (Many Leaves Press, 2003) * ''A Ring of Words'' (Arvon Prize Anthology, 1998) * ''Mind Readings'', ''Dancing in the Street'', ''The Faber Book of Blue Verse'' and the ''Virago Book of Love Poetry''. * Poems on the Underground featured her poem "Freight Song" (Cassell).


Essays

*


References


External links


Official website

Profile
contemporarywriters.com
Profile
britishcouncil.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazantzis, Judith 1940 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Daughters of Irish earls Daughters of life peers English feminists British social justice activists English women novelists English women poets People from Lewes
Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...