Gerard Benson

Gerard Benson
Born	Gerard John Benson 9 April 1931 London, England
Died	28 April 2014 (aged 83) Oxenhope, Bradford, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Poet, teacher and author

Gerard John Benson (9 April 1931 — 28 April 2014) was an English Quaker poet, teacher, and author. He was named poet laureate of the City of Bradford (2008) and was also active with Poems on the Underground.

Benson had worked as an intelligence decoder in Britain and as an actor, but his vocation was poetry. Originally from London, Benson settled in Bradford in 1989 with his writer/artist wife, Cathy Griffiths; the couple lived in Manningham.^[1][2]

Benson died on 28 April 2014, aged 83. Shortly before his death, the 83-year-old had recently returned from the BBC in London where he had made recordings of his poetry for the world-famous on-line Poetry Archive.^[1][3]

Publications

• London Poems On The Underground (1996); ISBN 978-0304349029
• To Catch an Elephant (2002); ISBN 978-1902382401
• Omba Bolomba (2005); ISBN 978-1902382708
• Best Poems on the Underground (2009); ISBN 978-0297859079
• A Good Time (2013); ISBN 978-1906613198

References

1. Griffiths, Kathie (3 May 2014). "Tributes paid to our poet laureate Gerard Benson". Thetelegraphandargus.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
2. Judith Chernaik and Michael Rosen (26 May 2014). "Gerard Benson obituary". TheGuardian. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
3. Sansom, Ann & Peter (1 May 2014). "Gerard Benson". The Poetry Business. Bank Street Arts. Retrieved 7 May 2014.

External links

• Notice of death of Gerard Benson, poetrylibrary.org.uk; accessed 5 May 2014.