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Tony Harrison Biography (1937-)

Born April 30, 1937, in Leeds, Yorkshire, England; son of Harry Ashton (a baker) and Florence (Wilkinson-Horner) Harrison; married Rosemarie Crossfield Dietzsch (an artist), January 16, 1960 (marriage ended); married Teresa Stratas(an opera singer), 1984; children: (first marriage) Jane, Max. Addresses: Agent--Peters, Fraser & Dunlop, 5th Floor, The Chambers, Chelsea Harbour, Lots Rd., London SW10 0XF, England.

Nationality

English

Gender

Male

Birth Details

April 30, 1937

Yorkshire, Leeds, England

Famous Works

• Writings;PLAYS
• (As T. W. Harrison; with James Simmons) Aikin Mata (adaptation of Aristophanes's Lysistrata), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, 1965, publishedby Oxford University Press (Ibadan), 1966.
• (Translator and adaptor) Moliere, The Misanthrope, National Theatre, London, 1973, then St. James Theatre, New York City, 1975, published by Rex Collings (London), 1973, Third Press (New York), 1975.
• (Translator and adaptor) Phaedra Britannica (based on Racine's Phedre), Old Vic Theatre, London, 1975, then Classic Stage Company Repertory Theatre, New York City, 1989, published by Rex Collings, 1975.
• The Passion: Selected from the Fifteenth Century Cycle of York Mystery Plays, Cottesloe Theatre, London, 1977, published by Rex Collings, 1977.
• Bow Down (music by Harrison Birtwistle), Cottesloe Theatre, 1977, published by Rex Collings, 1977.
• (Librettist) The Bartered Bride, Metropolitan Opera Company, New York City, 1978, published by Schirmer (New York), 1978.
• (Translator and adaptor) Aeschylus, The Oresteia, Olivier Theatre, London, 1981, published by Rex Collings, 1981.
• The Mysteries, Cottesloe Theatre, then Lyceum Theatre, London, both 1985,published by Faber (London), 1985.
• (Librettist) Yan Tan Tethera, music by Harrison Birtwistle, South Bank, London, 1986, broadcast on Channel 4 Television (England), 1987.
• The Trackers of Oxyrynchus, Delphi Stadium, 1988, then Olivier Theatre and Salts Mill, Saltaire, both 1990, published as The Trackers of Oxyrynchus: The Delphi Text 1988, Faber, 1990.
• The Common Chorus, Faber, 1992.
• Square Rounds (three scripts), Olivier Theatre, 1992, published by Faber,1993.
• Poetry or Bust, Salts Mill, 1994.
• Writings;POETRY
• (As T. W. Harrison) Earthworks, Northern House, 1964.
• Newcastle Is Peru, Eagle Press (Newcastle), 1969.
• The Loiners, London Magazine Editions, 1970.
• (Translator) The Poems of Palladas, Anvil Press (Millville, MN), 1975.
• From "The School of Eloquence" and Other Poems, Rex Collings, 1978.
• Looking Up, Migrant Press, 1979.
• Continuous: Fifty Sonnets from "The School of Eloquence", Rex Collings, 1981.
• A Kumquat for John Keats, Bloodaxe Books, 1981.
• U.S. Martial, Bloodaxe Books, 1981, Dufour (Chester Springs, PA), 1989.
• Selected Poems, Viking, 1984, expanded edition, Random House (New York),1987.
• v, Bloodaxe Books, 1985.
• Dramatic Verse, 1973-1985, Dufour, 1985.
• v. and Other Poems, Farrar, Straus (New York), 1989.
• A Cold War Coming: Gulf War Poems, Dufour, 1991.
• The Common Chorus: A Version of Aristophanes's "Lysistrata", Faber, 1992.
• The Gaze of the Gorgon, Bloodaxe Books, 1992.
• Black Daisies for the Bride, Faber, 1993.
• Permanently Bard (selected poetry), Bloodaxe Books, 1995.
• Other poetry volumes include The Fire-Gap, 1985. Work represented in TheRex Collings Christmas Book, Rex Collings, 1976; and Corgi Modern Poets in Focus, Volume IV, edited by Jeremy Robson, Corgi, 1971.
• Writings;TELEPLAYS AND POEMS FOR TELEVISION
• The Big H, music by Dominic Muldowney, BBC-2, 1984.
• Loving Memory (in four parts), BBC-2, 1987.
• The Blasphemers Banquet, BBC-1, 1989.
• The Gaze of the Gorgon, BBC-2, 1992.
• Black Daisies for the Bride, BBC-2, 1993.
• A Maybe Day in Kazakhstan, Channel 4, 1994.
• The Shadow of Hiroshima, Channel 4, 1995.
• Writings;OTHER
• Author of the lyrics for the screenplay Bluebird, 1976. Author of the collection Theatre Works, 1973-85, published in 1986. Some writings appear underthe name T. W. Harrison.

Further Reference

BOOKS

• Acheson, James, editor, British and Irish Drama since 1960, St.
• Martin's Press, 1993, pp. 202-06.
• Astley, Neil, editor, Tony Harrison, A Critical Anthology, Bloodaxe Books, 1991.
• Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 43, Gale, 1987.
• Courtney, Cathy, editor, Jocelyn Herbert: A Theatre Workbook, Art BooksInternational (London), 1993, pp. 128-33, 229-32.
• Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 40: Poets of Great Britain andIreland since 1960, Gale, 1985.
• Heady, Elizabeth, Orpheus and His Lute: Poetry and the Renewal of Life,Bristol Classical Press, 1992, pp. 33-35, 162.
• Kaiser, John, Tony Harrison: A Bibliography 1957-1987, Mansell, 1989.
• McDonald, Marianne, Ancient Sun, Modern Light: Greek Drama on the ModernStage, Columbia University Press (New York), 1992, pp. 97-113.
• Spencer, Luke, The Poetry of Tony Harrison, Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1994.