Patrick Cullinan

Through the journal (the title taken from a poem by Roy Campbell) Cullinan sought to re-establish the standing of poetry in South Africa. Influences included John Betjeman, W. Yeats, Eugenio Montale, Rimbaud, and Dante.

• Name — Patrick Roland Cullinan • Born — 25 May 1933 • Birthplace — Pretoria, South Africa • Died — 14 April 2011 • Place of death — Cape Town, South Africa • Occupation — Poet, biographer • Relatives — Sir Thomas Cullinan (grandfather)

Cullinan accepted the fact that writers ought to have been involved in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, while acknowledging the fact that is it difficult to produce a satisfactory political poem. Criticism has been levelled at Cullinan — that his work, throughout the Apartheid years in South Africa, did not engage with "the struggle" against apartheid. In the first edition of The Bloody Horse, Cullinan wrote: To talk of 'literature', of good writing, of art may be obscene or almost obscene in a society as self-destructing, engrossed in conflict as this one is. But the important word is almost. For however cluttered by violence and potential annihilation a society may find itself, it is the writers and the artists who portray the reality of this process... There are multiple ways of telling the truth." This may be as good an encapsulation as any of the position of Cullinan's poetry in its political context. Cullinan believed that it was "the fanatical belief that politics is more important than art" which was slowing the process of South African poetry becoming "more sophisticated" and "less provincial": a limitation which he hoped the "New South Africa" after the first democratic elections in 1994 would remove.

Cullinan maintained close contact with other poets writing in South Africa, notably Gus Ferguson. Before their deaths, he was a friend and fellow writer to Lionel Abrahams, Guy Butler, Douglas Livingstone and Stephen Watson. Cullinan made a significant contribution to South African poetry through his encouragement of young writers, both through his teaching, and through his willingness to mentor, support and constructively criticise. During his time at Oxford, he was similarly mentored by John Betjeman (who became a significant correspondent) - and so represented a unique link between a lyrical English verse tradition and following generations of English-speaking South African poets. Prior to his retirement and his devotion to full-time writing, he lectured for many years at the University of the Western Cape. In retirement, he lived in Cape Town, South Africa.