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John Heath-Stubbs

John Heath-Stubbs, a British poet and translator, whose works were shaped by myth, ancient Roman literature, Persian poetry, and his Christian belief, died in a London nursing home December 26, 2006 at age 88.

Born in London on July 9, 1918, Heath-Stubbs attended Queen's College, Oxford during World War II and was first published in 1941 in the anthology "Eight Oxford Poets" (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941). His classmates included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Keith Douglas, Sidney Keyes, Philip Larkin, Drummond Allison, Kingsley Amis, and Iris Murdoch. In his 1993 autobiography, "Hindsights: An Autobiography of John Heath-Stubbs" (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1993), he related the literary history of his time along with the details of his life. His main critical writings are collected in "The Literary Essays of John Heath-Stubbs" (Carcanet, 1998).

He received the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1973. The Cross of St Augustine was awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury for his contibution to Chritianity through the arts. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1988.

As a counterpoint to his Soho, bohemian experiences in London in his youth, he traced his commitment to Christianity to the influence of C.S. Lewis at Oxford. His autobiography also discusses how he adapted his life to the gradual loss of his sight, which resulted in blindness at age 60, without letting it dominate his life or restrict his poetry.

An example of Heath-Stubbs use of classical myth is the "The Immolation of Aleph" (Carcanet, 1985). "Artorius: A Heroic Poem in Four Books and Eight Episodes," (Enitharmon Press, 1973), based on the legend of King Arthur, was published in 1973.

His 1979 translation of the "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" (St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition,1983) was written with Peter Avery. He translated from Latin the "Poems of Sulpicia" (Hearing Eye, 2000), a rare example of Roman poetry attributed to a woman.

In contrast to his earlier work with classical themes, his 2005 collection of poetry "Pigs Might Fly"(Carcanet, 2005) has been described as light-hearted, satirical and wry.

Below is a list of titles by John Heath-Stubbs, available from YBP and Baker & Taylor. For your convenience, this list is also available in a MS Excel spreadsheet. click here.

14 POEMS