Adrian Mitchell (writer)

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Adrian Mitchell (born October 24, 1932 in London ; † December 20, 2008 ibid) was an English writer who is particularly known for satirical and political poetry such as "To Whom It May Concern", an angry poem against the information policy during the Vietnam War . Mitchell often appeared at readings and also wrote novels , librettos and scripts . In later years he also began to write children's and youth literature .

Life and work

Mitchell was born near Hampstead Heath . His mother Kathleen Fabian was a teacher, his father Jock Mitchell was a chemist and came from Cupar . Adrian Mitchell went to school in Bath and Wiltshire . He wrote his first play at the age of nine and, with his friend Gordon Snell, he also directed school plays in their youth. After graduating from school, he was drafted into the Royal Air Force , a time that he said he had strengthened his pacifism . After studying at Christ Church College , Oxford, during which he wrote poetry and edited the student magazine Isis , he decided against the profession of elementary school teacher and worked from 1955 and 1957 as a reporter and journalist for the Oxford Mail and the Evening Standard . Between 1963 and 1965 he worked as a freelancer for various newspapers, where he v. a. Wrote music reviews.

Mitchell's productive literary career began in 1961 when he was able to write his first television play after an inheritance . The following year he published his first novel. In 1965 he read, alongside Allen Ginsberg , William S. Burroughs a . a., at the International Poetry Incarnation in the Royal Albert Hall , which was the subject of a documentary. With his catchy and biting verses, he emphatically articulated the rejection of an entire generation against the Vietnam War and thus drew public attention for the first time. Public reading of his works would remain an important part of his career; he had more than a thousand appearances on every continent. In addition to political ideals, this concealed the desire to make poetry accessible to a wider public, because: “Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people.” The unconditional commitment of his poetry for peace and justice made it particularly on the left-wing political spectrum popular. Mitchell's penchant for revolutionary and anarchist ideas, occasionally hinted at in autobiographical poems, is often reflected in the unconventional form and idiosyncratic language of his works.

In the 1960s he also published volumes of poetry, worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company , wrote a new libretto for the Magic Flute and adapted Peter Weiss ' Marat / Sade as a screenplay, for which he received the PEN Translation Prize. Even later he continued to adapt well-known authors - e. B. Gogol , Carroll , Orwell or Lewis - for theater, musical theater or film. In the 1970s, Mitchell wrote poems and some screenplays, three other novels, the libretto for an opera by Peter Schats and a play about William Blake , who had had a great influence on him. In the 1980s, he also began writing poetry and stories for children, which later became more and more of his work. In November 1998 the Royal Shakespeare Company performed its successful stage version of CS Lewis ' children's book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , for which Shaun Davey wrote the music.

He was active as a writer until his death. Due to his extremely productive career and his constant appeals to the social conscience of the people, he was often referred to as the "Shadow Poet Laureate" in his last years, following a quote from the socialist magazine Red Pepper .

Adrian Mitchell had five children from two marriages and six grandchildren.

Works (selection)

  • 1962: If You See Me Comin '
  • 1964: Poems
  • 1968: Out Loud
  • 1970: The Bodyguard
  • 1971: Ride the Nightmare
  • 1973: Wartime
  • 1975: The Apeman Cometh
  • 1975: Man Friday
  • 1982: For Beauty Douglas
  • 1984: On the Beach at Cambridge
  • 1984: Nothingmas Day
  • 1985: The Baron Rides Out
  • 1986: The Baron on the Island of Cheese
  • 1987: The Baron all at Sea
  • 1988: Love Songs of World War Three
  • 1991: All My Own Stuff
  • 1994: The Ugly Duckling
  • 1996: Blue Coffee
  • 1997: Heart on the Left
  • 1997: Balloon Lagoon
  • 1998: Robin Hood and Marian
  • 1999: Nobody Rides the Unicorn
  • 2000: All Shook Up
  • 2001: Zoo of Dreams
  • 2004: The Shadow Knows
  • 2004: Daft as a Donut
  • 2009: Tell Me Lies
  • 2009: Umpteen Pockets

Scriptwriting (selection)

  • 1966: The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, portrayed by the acting group of the Hospice in Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade )
  • 1975: Friday and Robinson

literature

  • Martin Booth: British Poetry 1964 to 1984: Driving through the Barricades , London 1985, pp. 125ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b biography on Mitchell's homepage
  2. ↑ Biography on the website of the international literature festival berlin ( Memento from November 8, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b Prof. Kershaw about Mitchell on his homepage
  4. ↑ “Most people ignore most of the poetry, because most of the poetry ignores most people.” - from the foreword to a volume of poetry from 1964 and an often quoted sentence by Mitchell.
  5. ^ Obituary in The Independent
personal data
SURNAME Mitchell, Adrian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 2008
Place of death London