Secret poets revealed

Elizabeth Jennings' name is a familiar one to anyone who has taken an A-level in English. Students will know a lot about her published poems but very little about the person behind them.

She lives alone in a cosy bedsit, where she burns the midnight oil writing poetry. When she is not writing, the 71-year-old can be found poring over her beloved books. She admits she normally has about four on the go at any one time.

Elizabeth's poetry has, until recently, been compulsory on the A-level syllabus. There's no doubt it deserved to be there. She has written 19 poetry books and was awarded the CBE for services to literature.

Although her poems have now been taken off the list to make way for new poets, she still writes avidly and is looking forward to her latest book being published later in the year.

When not writing, she spends her time in Oxford cafes and pubs where she sits quietly and reads for most of the day. Then Elizabeth returns to her bedsit in Headington. Elizabeth was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 18 1926, but has spent most of her life in Oxford, where she studied at St Anne's College. She never married. "I fell in love in the last year but we were both two-timing each other! He died last year and to be honest I felt absolutely nothing because it was so long ago that we were together," she recalls. Although she lives alone, Elizabeth rarely gets lonely, despite never marrying.

"I was engaged once but it was a good job I didn't marry him because I'm always getting up in the night to write."

Elizabeth's day starts at around 8am when she wakes up and tidies the bedsit. She collects musical boxes which take up a lot of room, so she has to try and stay as neat as possible.

She never eats breakfast and goes straight into Oxford. She never stays late in the city centre when it gets really busy.

"I don't like big crowds. If someone gave me £5,000 then I would go to the World Cup but not for less, However, I do find snooker quite fascinating because there are so many different styles. I also love tennis although I was called the worst tennis player when I was at school!" she said. "People I don't know send poetry to me. They don't really want my opinion,they just want praise. But most of the poems sent to me are quite terrible. In fact, only one or two have showed talent." said Elizabeth, in a matter-of-fact way. But then Elizabeth doesn't mince words. She knows good from bad.

She started writing as a child and discovered a passion for poetry that went on to obsess her for years.

HDespite being a famous poet, she doesn't stand out in a crowd. Yet her first book won a Somerset Maugham Award and many distinctions have followed, including the WH Smith Award in 1987.

"Of course I didn't send my poems to well-known poets but I loved poetry. I like Shakespeare but I don't really think of his work as poetry.

"These days my favourite poet is Auden but I also love the romantics like Keats," she said.

She believes her talent for writing poetry comes from craftmanship. "TS Elliot wrote that somewhere and it's true. I had tea with him once, which was lovely and he's right, I don't think you can teach a poet to be a poet.

"I think there is a gift but I don't know how it works. When I started writing, I sent things off to magazines. My mother would give me stamps and envelopes."

She is thrilled to have been awarded the OBE. She said: "I was flabbergasted. I had a letter from the Queen.

"She is so sweet and has a very dedicated life. I hate all the criticism of the Royal Family.

"I'm very pro the monarchy. I think the Queen is beyond praise and I think Prince Charles does a very good job."

Unfortunately Elizabeth's medal disappeared while she was moving house, which was heartbreaking for her.

Age doesn't prevent Elizabeth from beingdoing what she wants to do and she is still very independent. She usually goes to the annual St Giles' Fair and loves The Grapes pub in George Street, Oxford, where she often goes for lunch.

"I also go to Yates Wine Lodge sometimes where I will have scampi or something and I remember going to the Cock and Camel once. If I do go to pubs, I never stay terribly long.

"I sometimes go to Old Orleans in the same street for a cocktail because it's really nice in there.

"I never drink spirits if I'm going to write. I dislike the taste of brandy, gin and whisky but I like wine," she said.

She has a television in the bedsit but tends to listen to BBC Radio 4 when she isn't reading.

"I love Mozart - I think that is my favourite. I don't like pop music but I did like the Beatles. I was so sad when Linda McCartney died.

"I remember someone saying to me years ago that when sports people get old they are quite lost but if you are a reader it is something you can always do. I read a tremendous lot.

"When I had glandular fever when I was about 20, I read practically all the Virginia Woolfe and Ian Forster books."

Elizabeth reads in bed until 3am and can rarely get to sleep before then. If she is writing and a poem gives her a lot of trouble, she may stay awake longer until she is happy with it.

"I wouldn't like to be on a desert island because I would miss the company but if I was, I would want to take paper and pens so I could continue to write," she said.

Elizabeth Jennings' latest poetry book Praises, published by Carcanet, is out later this year priced £6.95.

STILL IN PRINT

Elizabeth's books still available include:

Selected Poems

Collected Poems

Times and Seasons

Familiar Spirits

Every Changing Season

In The Meantime

A Poet's Choice

Translations of Michelangelo's Sonnets

TOP HONOURS AT LAST FOR A PROLIFIC WRITER

Lifelong poet Anne Ridler has proved the saying that all things come to those who wait, by picking up her first major award at the age of 85.

Mrs Ridler, of Stanley Road, east Oxford, was wined and dined at a glittering party in London last night, when she travelled to the capital to collect the Cholmondeley Award for poetry. Her prize, which is accompanied by a cheque for £2,000, was handed over by former Monty Python star Michael Palin on behalf of the Society of Authors, which held its 1998 Awards ceremony at the Kensington Roof Garden.

Mrs Ridler has been a prolific writer, having put together several collections of poetry, written plays, biographies and criticism, translated opera libretti from Italian into English and edited a number of books.

But, apart from her loyal fans, one of her poems being published on the Underground last year and a small award from an American publisher, literary fame and acclaim has eluded her - until now. Mrs Ridler said: "The award is very nice, certainly. When I got the letter through the post I thought it was another charity appeal rather than the news that I had won. I am nearly 86 and really and truly I haven't had much advertisement before. I think this is probably for the books of poetry I've done over the years."

Mrs Ridler started writing poetry as a young girl and was a secretary and assistant to the famous poet T S Eliot when she worked at publishers Faber and Faber in the 1930s and 1940s.

She said: "He influenced every poet of my generation and I admired his poetry very much. It was thrilling to go to work in the firm where he was."

A flair for literature and books is very much in the blood in Mrs Ridler's family. Her father and mother were writers and her husband, Vivian, is a former printer for the Oxford University Press. Their children have also also written poetry and books.

Another winner last night was Oxford author and part-time GP Dr Philip Whitaker, who picked up a Betty Trask Award and a £5,000 cheque for his novel Total Eclipse of the Sun.

Dr Whitaker, 32, of Newton Road, Oxford, earned a prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year award nomination with the novel last year and last month picked up a Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys literary prize.

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