Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Sad that it should take
a lifetime to find one's self,
then lose it so soon.

John Ward who died on November 30, 1999, was born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, in December 1915. He joined the Civil Service as an Executive Officer in 1934, attained the rank of Senior Principal and considered himself fortunate to have retired before the Thatcher years. Apart from his youth in Newcastle, he lived and worked for long periods in the Liverpool, North Devon and Manchester areas. He was a long term member of Manchester Poets, Off The Page and the Society of Civil Service Authors, for which he was the poetry editor.

A friendly, caring, forthright, gentle man, John's poetry reflected his concerns and his character. He had an acute sense of history and place. Many of his poems trace a family history which becomes synonymous with place and the social environment. But they are all, finally, a tender, wise and honest examination of the human condition and a search for meaning. With him, there was no distance between the man and the poet.

Seán Body

John Ward's Selected Poems 1968-1995 is published by Tarantula (1996,1998). Available from Bookshops or direct. Two fortyfive minute audio tapes of John introducing and reading his poems are also available.

Selected Poems 1968-1995 ISBN 0 907269 1 5 £6.95
Travelling (cassette) ISBN 0 9507269 2 3 £5.00
An Early Frost (cassette) ISBN 0 9507269 3 1 £5.00
(Postage & packing £1.00 extra, all orders)