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{{Short description|Poet and critic in Scotland and England, 1947–1975}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox person
⚫
'''Veronica Elizabeth Marian Forrest Thomson''' (28 November 1947 – 26 April 1975) was a [[poet]] and a [[critical theorist]].
| name = Veronica Forrest-Thomson
| image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption =
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1947|11|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Malayan Union|Malaya]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|04|26|1947|11|28|df=y}}
| death_place =
| nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| other_names =
| education = [[University of Liverpool]];<br/>[[Girton College]], [[University of Cambridge]]
| occupation = [[poet]], [[critical theorist]]
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry''
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Jonathan Culler]]|1971|1974}}
}}
⚫
'''Veronica Elizabeth Marian Forrest-Thomson''' (28 November 1947 – 26 April 1975) was a [[poet]] and a [[critical theorist]] brought up in Scotland. Her 1978 study ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry'' was reissued in 2016.


==Life and education==
Born in Malaya to rubber planter John Forrest Thomson and his wife Jean (Veronica hyphenated the surname herself, having originally published under the name Veronica Forrest), she grew up in [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QLlaAAAAMAAJ&q=Veronica+Forrest-Thompson+and+language+poetry&dq=Veronica+Forrest-Thompson+and+language+poetry&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lNP0UvP5MLSy7Ab4wIGgBQ&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA] Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry, 2001</ref> She studied at the University of [[University of Liverpool|Liverpool]] (B.A. 1967) and [[Girton College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] (Ph.D 1971; her first supervisor was the poet [[J. H. Prynne]]<ref>http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0271%2FGCPP%20Forrest-Thomson</ref>),<ref>The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth L. Ewan et al, 2006, Edinburgh University Press, pg 125</ref> and later taught at the Universities of [[University of Leicester|Leicester]] and [[University of Birmingham|Birmingham]]. Her critical study ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry'' was published by Manchester University Press in 1978. Her poetry collections included ''Identi-kit'' (1967), the award-winning ''Language-Games'' (1971) and the posthumous ''On the Periphery'' (1976). Subsequent gatherings of her work include ''Collected Poems and Translations'' (1990) and ''Selected Poems'' (1999).<ref>[http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781905700806/collected-poems.aspx COLLECTED POEMS - Veronica Forrest-Thomson : Small Press Distribution]</ref> A further ''Collected Poems'', minus the translations, was published in 2008 by Shearsman Books in association with Allardyce Books.
Veronica was born in [[Malayan Union|Malaya]] to a rubber planter, John Forrest Thomson and his wife Jean, but grew up in [[Glasgow]], Scotland.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QLlaAAAAMAAJ&q=Veronica+Forrest-Thompson+and+language+poetry] Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry, 2001</ref> She opted to hyphenate the surname, having originally been published under the name Veronica Forrest.


She studied at the [[University of Liverpool]] (BA, 1968) and [[Girton College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] (PhD, 1971) where her first supervisor was the poet [[J. H. Prynne]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Janus: Papers of Veronica Forrest-Thomson |url=https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD/GBR/0271/GCPP%20Forrest-Thomson |access-date=2020-09-10 |website=janus.lib.cam.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth L. Ewan et al, 2006, Edinburgh University Press, p. 125.</ref> Her Cambridge friends included the poets [[Wendy Mulford]] and [[Denise Riley]].<ref>Virginia Blane, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, eds, ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'' (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 387, {{ISBN|07134 5848 8}}</ref>
⚫
Forrest-Thomson died in her sleep on the 26 April 1975 at the age of 27.<ref>Alison Mark, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry'' pg xi.</ref><ref>http://www.pnreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?item_id=4831/ PN Review</ref> She was married to the writer and academic [[Jonathan Culler]] from 1971 to 1974; he is the executor of her literary estate.<ref>The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth L. Ewan et al, 2006, Edinburgh University Press, pg 125</ref><ref>Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry, 2001</ref><ref>Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Collected Poems, Shearsman Books and Allardyce Books, 2008</ref> In 2013, the poet and academic, [[Gareth Farmer]] organised the establishment of the Veronica Forrest-Thomson Archive at Girton College Library, Cambridge.

Forrest-Thomson later taught at the universities of [[University of Leicester|Leicester]] and [[University of Birmingham|Birmingham]].

==Writings==
Forrest-Thomson's critical study ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry'' was published by Manchester University Press in 1978. It was reissued with notes and an introduction by Gareth Farmer in 2016 with [http://www.shearsman.com/ws-shop/category/803-essays--criticism/product/5182-veronica-forrest-thomson---poetic-artifice---a-theory-of-twentieth-century-poetry Shearsman press]. Her poetry collections included ''Identi-kit'' (1967), the award-winning ''Language-Games'' (1971) and the posthumous ''On the Periphery'' (1976). Subsequent gatherings of her work include ''Collected Poems and Translations'' (1990) and ''Selected Poems'' (1999).<ref>[http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781905700806/collected-poems.aspx COLLECTED POEMS – Veronica Forrest-Thomson: Small Press Distribution.]</ref> A further ''Collected Poems'', minus the translations, was published in 2008 by Shearsman Books with Allardyce Books.

⚫
Forrest-Thomson died in her sleep on 26 April 1975 at the age of 27, after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol.<ref>Alison Mark, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry'' p. xi.</ref><ref>[http://www.pnreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?item_id=4831/ PN Review.]</ref> She was married to the writer and academic [[Jonathan Culler]] from 1971 to 1974; he became the executor of her literary estate.<ref>''The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women'', Elizabeth L. Ewan et al, 2006, Edinburgh University Press, p. 125.</ref><ref>Alison Mark, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry'', 2001.</ref><ref>Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Collected Poems'', Shearsman Books and Allardyce Books, 2008.</ref> In November 2019, Jonathan Culler passed the role of literary executor to the academic and poet Gareth Farmer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/education-and-english-language/staff/gareth-farmer/ | title=Dr Gareth Farmer &#124; University of Bedfordshire }}</ref><ref>Currently, Dr Gareth Farmer, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Bedfordshire, is the literary executor, who in 2013 organised the establishment of the Veronica Forrest-Thomson Archive at Girton College Library, Cambridge. [https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/education-and-english-language/staff/gareth-farmer/.]</ref><ref>Papers of Veronica Forrest-Thomson, 1937–2011, held at the Girton College Archive [https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/19/archival_objects/370739.]</ref><ref>Harriet Staff, 'Introducing the Veronica Forrest-Thomson Archive', ''Poetry Foundation'', 2 July 2013 [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2013/07/introducing-the-veronica-forrest-thomson-archive-.]</ref>


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Collected Poems and Translations'' (1990)
*Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Collected Poems and Translations'', 1990
*Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-century Poetry'' (1978)
*Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-century Poetry'', 1978
*Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-century Poetry'', ed. Gareth Farmer (2016)
*Veronica Forrest-Thomson, ''Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-century Poetry'', ed. Gareth Farmer, 2016
*Alison Mark, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry'' (2001)
*Alison Mark, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry'', 2001
*Gareth Farmer, 'Veronica Forrest-Thomson: Poet on the Periphery' (2017)
*Gareth Farmer, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson: Poet on the Periphery'', 2017. [https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783319627212#aboutAuthors.]
*Gareth Farmer, 'Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Poetic Artfice and the Struggle with Forms' (Sussex: Unpublished PhD thesis) [http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/39713/]
*Gareth Farmer, ''Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Poetic Artifice and the Struggle with Forms'' (Sussex: unpublished PhD thesis) [http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/39713/]
*Gareth Farmer, ‘Veronica Forrest-Thomson's ‘Cordelia’, Tradition and the Triumph of Artifice’, Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry, 1.1 (September, 2009) pp.&nbsp;55–78
*Gareth Farmer, "Veronica Forrest-Thomson's 'Cordelia', Tradition and the Triumph of Artifice", ''Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry'', 1.1 (September, 2009) pp. 55–78
*Gareth Farmer, ‘‘The slightly hysterical style of University talk’: Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Cambridge’, Cambridge Literary Review 1.1 (September, 2009), pp.&nbsp;161–177
*Gareth Farmer, "The slightly hysterical style of University talk: Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Cambridge", ''Cambridge Literary Review'' 1.1 (September, 2009), pp. 161–177
*Isobel Armstrong, ''The Radical Aesthetic'' (2000)
*Isobel Armstrong, ''The Radical Aesthetic'', 2000
*Jane Dowson & Alice Entwistle, ''A History of Twentieth-century British Women's Poetry'' (2005)
*Jane Dowson and Alice Entwistle, ''A History of Twentieth-Century British Women's Poetry'', 2005
*Alison Mark, "Poetic Relations and Related Poetics: Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Charles Bernstein" in Romana Huk (ed.), ''Assembling Alternatives: Reading Postmodern Poetries Transnationally'' (2003)
*Alison Mark, "Poetic Relations and Related Poetics: Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Charles Bernstein" in Romana Huk (ed.), ''Assembling Alternatives: Reading Postmodern Poetries Transnationally'', 2003
*Christian R. Gelder, "Veronica Forrest-Thomsom's ABC of Atoms: Poetry, Knowledge, Technique", ''Cambridge Quarterly'', 51.1, (March, 2022), pp. 1–19


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
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*[http://jacketmagazine.com/20/pbs.html#sotp Peter Robinson, A review of ''On the Periphery'']
*[http://jacketmagazine.com/20/pbs.html#sotp Peter Robinson, A review of ''On the Periphery'']
*[http://jacketmagazine.com/20/vft-keery.html James Keery, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ and the Levels of Artifice: Veronica Forrest-Thomson on J H Prynne]
*[http://jacketmagazine.com/20/vft-keery.html James Keery, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ and the Levels of Artifice: Veronica Forrest-Thomson on J H Prynne]
*[http://www.kenyonreview.org/kro/vft/kro_vft_index.php Kenyon Review Online Web Feature]{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[https://www.kenyonreview.org/writer/veronica-forrest-thomson/ Kenyon Review Online Web Feature]
*https://beds.academia.edu/GarethFarmer
*https://beds.academia.edu/GarethFarmer
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool]]
[[Category:Critical theorists]]
[[Category:Critical theorists]]
[[Category:Poets who committed suicide]]
[[Category:Writers from Glasgow]]
[[Category:Suicides in Scotland]]
[[Category:People from Glasgow]]
[[Category:Scottish women poets]]
[[Category:Scottish women poets]]
[[Category:20th-century women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish poets]]
[[Category:Female suicides]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish women writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge]]

Latest revision as of 13:50, 5 April 2023

Veronica Forrest-Thomson
Born(1947-11-28)28 November 1947
Malaya
Died26 April 1975(1975-04-26) (aged 27)
EducationUniversity of Liverpool;
Girton College, University of Cambridge
Occupation(s)poet, critical theorist
Notable workPoetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1971⁠–⁠1974)​

Veronica Elizabeth Marian Forrest-Thomson (28 November 1947 – 26 April 1975) was a poet and a critical theorist brought up in Scotland. Her 1978 study Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry was reissued in 2016.

Life and education

[edit]

Veronica was born in Malaya to a rubber planter, John Forrest Thomson and his wife Jean, but grew up in Glasgow, Scotland.[1] She opted to hyphenate the surname, having originally been published under the name Veronica Forrest.

She studied at the University of Liverpool (BA, 1968) and Girton College, Cambridge (PhD, 1971) where her first supervisor was the poet J. H. Prynne.[2][3] Her Cambridge friends included the poets Wendy Mulford and Denise Riley.[4]

Forrest-Thomson later taught at the universities of Leicester and Birmingham.

Writings

[edit]

Forrest-Thomson's critical study Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry was published by Manchester University Press in 1978. It was reissued with notes and an introduction by Gareth Farmer in 2016 with Shearsman press. Her poetry collections included Identi-kit (1967), the award-winning Language-Games (1971) and the posthumous On the Periphery (1976). Subsequent gatherings of her work include Collected Poems and Translations (1990) and Selected Poems (1999).[5] A further Collected Poems, minus the translations, was published in 2008 by Shearsman Books with Allardyce Books.

Forrest-Thomson died in her sleep on 26 April 1975 at the age of 27, after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol.[6][7] She was married to the writer and academic Jonathan Culler from 1971 to 1974; he became the executor of her literary estate.[8][9][10] In November 2019, Jonathan Culler passed the role of literary executor to the academic and poet Gareth Farmer.[11][12][13][14]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Collected Poems and Translations, 1990
  • Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-century Poetry, 1978
  • Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-century Poetry, ed. Gareth Farmer, 2016
  • Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry, 2001
  • Gareth Farmer, Veronica Forrest-Thomson: Poet on the Periphery, 2017. [5]
  • Gareth Farmer, Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Poetic Artifice and the Struggle with Forms (Sussex: unpublished PhD thesis) [6]
  • Gareth Farmer, "Veronica Forrest-Thomson's 'Cordelia', Tradition and the Triumph of Artifice", Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry, 1.1 (September, 2009) pp. 55–78
  • Gareth Farmer, "The slightly hysterical style of University talk: Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Cambridge", Cambridge Literary Review 1.1 (September, 2009), pp. 161–177
  • Isobel Armstrong, The Radical Aesthetic, 2000
  • Jane Dowson and Alice Entwistle, A History of Twentieth-Century British Women's Poetry, 2005
  • Alison Mark, "Poetic Relations and Related Poetics: Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Charles Bernstein" in Romana Huk (ed.), Assembling Alternatives: Reading Postmodern Poetries Transnationally, 2003
  • Christian R. Gelder, "Veronica Forrest-Thomsom's ABC of Atoms: Poetry, Knowledge, Technique", Cambridge Quarterly, 51.1, (March, 2022), pp. 1–19

References

[edit]
  1. ^ [1] Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry, 2001
  2. ^ "Janus: Papers of Veronica Forrest-Thomson". janus.lib.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  3. ^ The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth L. Ewan et al, 2006, Edinburgh University Press, p. 125.
  4. ^ Virginia Blane, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, eds, The Feminist Companion to Literature in English (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 387, ISBN 07134 5848 8
  5. ^ COLLECTED POEMS – Veronica Forrest-Thomson: Small Press Distribution.
  6. ^ Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry p. xi.
  7. ^ PN Review.
  8. ^ The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth L. Ewan et al, 2006, Edinburgh University Press, p. 125.
  9. ^ Alison Mark, Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Language Poetry, 2001.
  10. ^ Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Collected Poems, Shearsman Books and Allardyce Books, 2008.
  11. ^ "Dr Gareth Farmer | University of Bedfordshire".
  12. ^ Currently, Dr Gareth Farmer, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Bedfordshire, is the literary executor, who in 2013 organised the establishment of the Veronica Forrest-Thomson Archive at Girton College Library, Cambridge. [2]
  13. ^ Papers of Veronica Forrest-Thomson, 1937–2011, held at the Girton College Archive [3]
  14. ^ Harriet Staff, 'Introducing the Veronica Forrest-Thomson Archive', Poetry Foundation, 2 July 2013 [4]
[edit]
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