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Information About

Fleur Adcock





EARLY LIFE

Adcock was born in Papakura , New Zealand but spent the years between 1939 and 1947 living and studying in England. She is a sister to Marilyn Duckworth . She studied Classics at the Victoria University Of Wellington , graduating with a M.A. . She worked as an assistant lecturer librarian at the University Of Otago in Dunedin until 1961 . In 1962 she married Barry Crump , divorcing in 1963 .


LIFE IN ENGLAND

In 1963 , Adcock returned to England and took up a post as librarian at the Foreign And Commonwealth Office in London . Apart from a brief return to New Zealand in 1975-1976, she has lived in Finchley ever since, teaching and working as a freelance writer.


POETRY

Adcock's poetry is typically concerned with themes of place and everyday activities, but frequently with a dark twist given to the mundane events she writes about. Formally, her early work was influenced by her training as a classicist but her more recent work is looser in structure and more concerned with the world of the unconscious mind. Her publications include ''Selected Poems'' ( 1983 ) and ''Looking Back'' ( 1997 ). She has edited ''The Faber Book Of 20th Century Women's Poetry '' ( 1987 ) and ''The Oxford Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry'' ( 1982 ).

Adcock was awarded an Office Of The British Empire in 1996 for her contribution to New Zealand Literature .

It was announce that she is the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Queen's Gold Medal For Poetry .


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