Helen Dunmore
Helen Dunmore
Helen Dunmoreis a British poet, novelist and children's writer. Educated at the University of York, she now lives in Bristol. Dunmore is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Some of her children's books are now included in reading schemes for use in schools...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth12 December 1952
adventure air world
In a world without air all you breathe is adventure!
stories creatures
We are creatures of story.
teacher parent stories
As individuals, we are shaped by story from the time of birth; we are formed by what we are told by our parents, our teachers, our intimates.
writing historical pleasure
However, the difficulties and pleasures of the writing itself are similar for a novel with a historical setting and a novel with a contemporary setting, as far as I'm concerned.
magazines firsts entering
However, I began to submit poems to British magazines, and some were accepted. It was a great moment to see my first poems published. It felt like entering a tradition.
writing years research
I enjoy research; in fact research is so engaging that it would be easy to go on for years, and never write the novel at all.
powerful reading progress
I have learned so much from working with other poets, travelling and reading with them, spending days discussing poems in progress. There is the sense that we are all, as writers, part of something which is more powerful than any of us.
children black sitting
I can remember being in my pram: children stayed in their prams much longer then than they do now. A big bouncy pram with black covers and a hood with metal clips that could trap your fingers. I was looking up at my sister who was sitting on the pram seat, with her back to me.
men poet uncertain
The poets whom I knew then were all men and all seemed dauntingly sure of themselves - although I am sure that really they were as uncertain as I was.
strong children book
Writing children's books gives a writer a very strong sense of narrative drive.
writing ears weight
Writing poetry makes you intensely conscious of how words sound, both aloud and inside the head of the reader. You learn the weight of words and how they sound to the ear.
trying individual terrible
To try to expunge an individual's history is a terrible violation.
began came fiction quite short stories
Fiction came quite a while later. I began with short stories and fiction for children.
early huge influence start
I could start with Mandelstam, who was a huge influence on my early writing.