William Scammell

William Scammell (2 January 1939 Southampton – 29 November 2000) was a British poet.

Life

He was born into a working-class family in the Waterside village of Hythe on Southampton Water, but failed the eleven-plus exam. His brother is Michael Scammell. He took a succession of menial jobs before becoming a ship's photographer on the RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary.^[1]

He enrolled as a mature student at Bristol University. He taught at the Workers' Educational Association. He moved to the Lake District, with his artist wife, Jackie, and their two sons. In 1975, he moved to Cockermouth to teach at the Newcastle University.^[2] In 1991, he taught at Nottingham Trent University.

His first marriage was dissolved in 1996. A year later, Bill married Jan, and they moved to Heathfield Cottage, at Aspatria, Cumbria, where he got stuck into vegetable gardening. Jan survives him, as do his first wife and their two sons.

His work appeared in Granta,^[3] and Lives of the Poets,^[4]

Awards

• 1982 Cholmondeley Award

Work

Poetry

• Yes And No. Peterloo. 1979. ISBN 978-0-905291-18-5.
• A Second Life. Peterloo. 1982. ISBN 978-0-905291-38-3.
• Jouissance. Peterloo. 1985. ISBN 978-0-905291-61-1.
• Eldorado. Peterloo. 1987. ISBN 978-0-905291-88-8.
• Bleeding Heart Yard. Peterloo Poets. 1992. ISBN 978-1-871471-28-1.
• Stare At The Moon, Bleeding Heart Yard. 1992
• The Game: Tennis Poems. Peterloo Poets. 1992. ISBN 978-1-871471-27-4.
• Five Easy Pieces. Sinclair-Stevenson. 1993. ISBN 978-1-85619-315-3.
• Barnacle Bill. Dedalus Press. 1994. ISBN 978-1-873790-66-3.
• All Set To Fall Off The Edge Of The World Flambard Press 1998

Editor

• Ted Hughes (1983). William Scammell, ed. Winter Pollen. ISBN 978-0-312-13625-3. American edition Picador USA, 1995
• The New Lake poets. Bloodaxe Books. 1991. ISBN 978-1-85224-146-9.
• This Green Earth: A Celebration of Nature Poetry. Ellenbank. 1992. ISBN 978-1-873551-04-2.
• Debjani Chatterjee, William Scammell, ed. (1991). Northern Poetry. Littlewood Press. ISBN 978-0-946407-50-7.

Essays

• William Scammell (17 April 1994). "BOOK REVIEW / Could be much verse". The Independent.
• Hank Lazer, ed. (1988). "From 'Living in the World'". Title On Louis Simpson: depths beyond happiness. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-06382-6.
• "Words and Silences". Spectator. 281 (8882): 50–1. 31 October 1998.
• "In pursuit of the unspeakable". The Spectator. 23 September 2000.

References

1. John Lucas (13 December 2000). "William Scammell: Poet of wit, craft and restless observation". The Guardian. London.
2. HUNTER DAVIES (16 November 1993). "INTERVIEW / He knows his words' worth: William Scammell has given up his day job to try to wring a livelihood from his verse. He'd be better off taking photos on the QE2". The Independent. London.
3. http://www.granta.com/Contributors/William-Scammell
4. http://www.poetrysoc.com/content/publications/review/backcopy/pr763to921/pr784/

External links

• HUNTER DAVIES (16 November 1993). "INTERVIEW / He knows his words' worth: William Scammell has given up his day job to try to wring a livelihood from his verse. He'd be better off taking photos on the QE2". The Independent. London.