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Douglas Dunn

For the American choreographer, seeDouglas Dunn (choreographer).

Douglas Eaglesham Dunn,OBE(born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute atSt Andrew's University.

Bust of Douglas Dunn atEdinburgh Park.

Background

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Dunn was born inInchinnan,Renfrewshire.[1]He was educated at the Scottish School of Librarianship, and worked as a librarian before he started his studies inHull.After graduating with a First Class Honours degree from theUniversity of Hull,he worked in the university'sBrynmor Jones LibraryunderPhilip Larkin.[2]He was friendly with Larkin and admired his poetry, but did not share his political opinions.

He was a Professor of English at theUniversity of St Andrewsfrom 1991, becoming Director of the University's Scottish Studies Centre in 1993 until his retirement in September 2008. He is now an Honorary Professor at St Andrews, still undertaking postgraduate supervision in the School of English. He was a member of theScottish Arts Council(1992–1994). He holds an honorary doctorate (LL.D., law) from theUniversity of Dundee,an honorary doctorate (D.Litt., literature) from the University of Hull and St Andrews. He became a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literaturein 1981, and was appointed an Officer of theOrder of the British Empirein 2003.

Terry Street,Dunn's first collection of poems, appeared in 1969 and received a Scottish Arts Council Book Award as well as aSomerset Maugham Award.Evoking his time working in Hull, the poems take as their inspiration working class life on a street ofback-to-backsjust off the Beverley Road (the street remains today, but all of the houses have been replaced).

Awards and honours

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Selected works

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  • Terry Street- 1969 (winner of theSomerset Maugham Award)
  • The Happier Life- 1972
  • Love or Nothing- 1974 (winner of theGeoffrey Faber Memorial Prize)
  • Barbarians- 1979
  • St. Kilda's Parliament- 1981 (winner of theHawthornden Prize)
  • Europa's Lover- 1982
  • Elegies- 1985
  • Secret Villages(collection of short stories) - 1985
  • Northlight- 1988
  • Andromache(translation of Racine'splay of the same name) - 1990
  • Dante's Drum-Kit- 1993
  • Boyfriends and Girlfriends- 1995
  • The Donkey's Ears- 2000
  • The Year's Afternoon- 2000
  • New Selected Poems 1964-2000- 2002
  • Invisible Ink- 2011
  • The Noise of a Fly- 2017

Reviews

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  • White, Kenneth(1982), review ofSt. Kilda's Parliament,in Murray, Glen (ed.),CencrastusNo. 8, Spring 1982, pp.44 & 45,ISSN0264-0856
  • Craig, Cairns(1984),Lourd on My Hert,which includes a review ofEuropa's Lover,in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.),CencrastusNo. 15, New Year 1984, pp. 54 & 55,ISSN0264-0856

Notes

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  1. ^"Professor Douglas Dunn - Literature".
  2. ^Wroe, 2003

References

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