John Fowles: Selected Poems

Edited by Adam Thorpe

‘I have always found the writing of poetry, which I began before I attempted prose, an enormous relief from the constant play-acting of fiction. I never pick up a book of poems without thinking that it will have one advantage over most novels: I shall know the writer better at the end of it.’ John Fowles

John Fowles (1926–2005) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and important English novelists of the second half of the twentieth century, but his career as a writer began in the 1950s with poetry. This selection of his poetic work includes two major sequences dating from the early part of his career, both of which draw on his time living in Greece and his interest in Greek mythology. The other poems included, largely unpublished and roughly in chronological order, are very varied in content, form and technique, and culminate in a sequence written in hospital towards the end of his life. Fowles was always interested in verse translation and adaptation, and the book concludes with a small sample of this side of his literary achievement.

Flambard Press is grateful to Arts Council England who have awarded us Grants for the Arts funding to make this project possible.

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