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
chapters happening headed light poem shining stage
Many chapters are headed by poem quotations. These epigraphs are another way of shining light on what is happening at this stage of the novel.
hear poet poetry russian understanding
I'm a poet and I've read a lot of Russian poetry and can hear It's sounds. Russian poetry is so important to an understanding of the culture.
rhythm search voice
You have to search for the voice of each character: the things that he or she could or could not have said, the distinctive rhythm of the voice.
rewriting stills ifs
Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. If it still doesn’t work, throw it away.
writing long-walks pieces
A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk.
powerful stories longing
The human longing for story is so powerful, so primitive, that it seems like something not learned, but locked into our genes.
tyrants opponents want
It is a violation which has obsessed the tyrants of the twentieth century. They do not want simply to kill their opponents, but to liquidate them, to deny that they have ever existed.
book tears reader
I hope that readers will tear through my books because they can't stop themselves - and then, maybe, read them again and find new things there.
book firsts collections
My first collection of poems was published by Bloodaxe Books, which was then a very new imprint.
book doors mourning
Mourning Ruby is not a flat landscape: it is more like a box with pictures painted on every face. And each face is also a door which opens, I hope, to take the reader deep into the book.
sea water worry
i wish i was away in Ingo far across the briny sea sailing over deepest waters where neither care nore worry trouble me
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.
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.