John Birtwhistle

• Name — John Birtwhistle • Birth Name — John Birtwhistle • Born — 28 June 1946 • Birthplace — Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England • Notable Works — *The Plumber's Gift • Eventualities • In The Event

Birtwhistle won an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 1975. His poetry has been recognized by an Arts Council bursary, an Arts Council creative writing fellowship (1976–78), a writing fellowship at the University of Southampton (1978–80) and a Poetry Book Society recommendation for Our Worst Suspicions (1985). Birtwhistle has had three concert libretti set and performed. Some of his early poems were translated by Ștefan Augustin Doinaș and published in Romanian. His 1996 libretto for The Fabulous Adventures of Alexander the Great by composer David Blake was translated into Greek. From 1980 to 1992, Birtwhistle was a Lecturer in English at the University of York, teaching mainly the seventeenth century and Romantic periods. He has written on Goethe’s Italian Journey and on Humphry Davy. He has edited and annotated John Clare's essay Popularity in Authorship. From 2012 to 2017, he was a literary contributor and eventually an Associate Editor of the quarterly BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Birtwhistle is married to a Consultant Anaesthetist and since 1992 he has lived in Sheffield with his family.