James kirkup biography autobiography
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Kirkup's perception of his role as Gregory Fellow in Poetry was: "to be myself and do as I pleased with absolute artistic and bohemian freedom." (5)He chose not to stay in the student accommodation offered to him, preferring to rent a room in a boarding house on Brunswick Place near the city centre (then part of Leeds' red light district).His English version of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Physicists (published 1963) premiered in Zürich in 1962 under the original German title before the translation's dissemination, exploring themes of science, madness, and ethics through three physicists confined in a sanatorium; the Kirkup translation facilitated numerous English-language stagings, including a 1967 production at Marin Theatre Company directed by Martin Ponch and a 2024 mounting by Dark & Stormy Productions at Gremlin Theatre in Minneapolis.[23][24][25] Similarly, his rendering of Heinrich von Kleist's The Prince of Homburg (published 1959) contributed to performances of this historical drama about Prussian military discipline and personal fate, though specific production records for the translation are less documented than for The Physicists.
Kirkup was a prolific writer, publishing over 150 volumes of poetry, translations, autobiography and travel writing during his lifetime, as well as many short articles. Kirkup occasionally used pen names, including James Falconer, Jun Honda, Andrew James, Taeko Kawai, Felix Liston, Edward Raeburn, and Ivy B. Summerforest.Kirkup was born April 23, 1918 in South Shields, England, lived much of his life in Japan, and died May 10, 2009 in Andorra.
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James Kirkup papers
Collection
Call Number: GEN MSS 773
Abstract: The James Kirkup Papers includes correspondence, writings, photographs, audiovisual material, personal documents and memorabilia that document the life and work of British author James Kirkup.The papers span his writing career, from early school papers to printouts of digital books published in the 2000s, and include documentation of the diverse genres of Kirkup's research and writing.
1952). This nativity-themed drama reflected his interest in blending poetic language with theatrical structure, drawing on Christian liturgy and medieval traditions without direct adaptation from a single source.[16]Kirkup also produced adaptations for the stage, notably The True Mystery of the Passion, his translation and modernization of the 15th-century FrenchMystère de la Passion by brothers Arnoul and Simon Gréban.
This was followed by Sorrows, Passions and Alarms: An Autobiography of Childhood (1959), which delves into emotional turbulence during his school years, including encounters with bullying and emerging artistic sensibilities.[28] Later works extended this introspective narrative: I, of All People: An Autobiography of Youth (1988) addresses adolescent struggles with identity and sexuality, while A Poet Could Not But Be Gay: Some Legends of My Lost Youth (1991) reflects on formative romantic and creative awakenings, incorporating poetic vignettes.
Printouts of virtual books: gift of Brindin Press, 2003.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series: I. Correspondence, 1937-2007. Some material in French.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research. There were plans for further publications, including a collection of Kirkup's translations and Edwin Morgan's Dies Irae, but these were never produced.
Similarly, Filipinescas: Travels Through the Philippines details his 1960s journeys across the archipelago, highlighting tropical landscapes, indigenous customs, and colonial legacies amid political unrest.[1] These works exemplify Kirkup's prose style—lyrical yet precise—rooted in direct experience rather than detached analysis, and they underscore his affinity for Asia, where he resided intermittently from 1957 onward.[30]Kirkup's contributions to literary criticism focused primarily on poetry, offering interpretive frameworks drawn from his own multilingual practice and global exposures.
III. Personal Papers and Memorabilia, circa 1920-1997. His last volume of poetry, Marsden Bay was published by the Red Squirrel Press in 2008.
James Kirkup died in hospital in Andorra, aged 91, on 10 May 2009.
Notes
(1). Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Kirkup's adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Play Strindberg (published 1973), a choreographed reinterpretation of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death, appeared in American editions via Grove Press and supported stage interpretations of marital conflict in a stylized format.[26]Beyond spoken drama, Kirkup contributed librettos to operatic works with theatrical elements, such as An Actor's Revenge (1979) for composer Minoru Miki, based on Otokichi Mikami's story Yukinojo Henge, which received a U.S.
premiere by Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 1981, framing revenge as a kabuki-inspired narrative in the protagonist's memory.[27] These efforts underscore Kirkup's versatility in dramatic writing, prioritizing linguistic precision and cultural transposition over prolific original playwriting.
Prose: Autobiographies, Travel Writing, and Criticism
Kirkup authored a series of autobiographical volumes that chronicled distinct phases of his personal development, drawing on his experiences in working-class South Shields and early literary influences.Original audiotape reels are now housed in box 177. His time in Leeds is marked in particular by the poem 'A Correct Compassion,' which he wrote from direct experience after observing a heart operation at the surgeon's side.
James Falconer Kirkup, the poet, novelist, playwright, translator and broadcaster, was born in South Shields, Co. Durham, on 23 April 1918.
2 (Hull: Lotus Press, [1951]). II. Writings, 1938-2007. In 1956 Kirkup took his first job abroad as a travelling lecturer in Sweden for the Swedish Ministry of Education; and in 1957 was appointed to teach English at the University of Salamanca, a position obtained with the help of Agostin de Irizar of the Portuguese Department at the University of Leeds.
(3). Ackerley was to become a close friend, and put Kirkup forward as a candidate for the first Gregory Fellowship in Poetry at the University of Leeds, with the support of Herbert Read. Kirkup appeared alongside G. Wilson Knight, Kenneth Muir, Arnold Kettle and others in a production of King Lear; and was also commissioned to write a play for the female members of the University's Drama Society.
The papers document not only Kirkup's life and work, but also pacifism as a theme in literature, twentieth-century gay life, e?migre?