# Michael Laskey > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Laskey > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Laskey.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Laskey > Source revision: 1338349887 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English poet and editor (born 1944)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person |name = Michael Laskey |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|08|15|df=yes}} |birth_place = [Lichfield](/source/Lichfield), [Staffordshire](/source/Staffordshire) |death_date = |death_place = |alma_mater = [St John's College, Cambridge](/source/St_John's_College%2C_Cambridge) |occupation = Poet, editor |children = 3, including [Jack](/source/Jack_Laskey) }} '''Michael George Laskey''' (born 15 August 1944) is an English poet and editor. ==Life== Born in [Lichfield](/source/Lichfield), [Staffordshire](/source/Staffordshire). Laskey was educated at [Gresham's School](/source/Gresham's_School) and [St John's College, Cambridge](/source/St_John's_College%2C_Cambridge), where he read English. After [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge), Laskey worked for ten years as a teacher in secondary schools and further education in [Spain](/source/Spain) and England. [http://www.poetryinternational.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=10932 Poetry International Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927112344/http://www.poetryinternational.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=10932 |date=2011-09-27 }} Laskey has published four poetry collections, including ''New & Selected Poems'' (2008), and three pamphlets. In 1999 Laskey was shortlisted for the [T. S. Eliot Prize](/source/T._S._Eliot_Prize) for his collection ''The Tightrope Wedding''.{{cite web | url=https://poetrybusiness.co.uk/product/the-tightrope-wedding/ | title=The Tightrope Wedding }} In 1989, Laskey founded the international [Aldeburgh](/source/Aldeburgh) Poetry Festival and served as its director for ten years. He subsequently became chairman of The Poetry Trust (the organisation that runs the Festival), 2003–2008. In 1991, with Roy Blackman he founded the poetry magazine ''[Smiths Knoll](/source/Smiths_Knoll)'', and since 2002 has edited it (with Joanna Cutts). In 2005 he was awarded an Arts Council International Writing Fellowship at the [Banff Centre](/source/Banff_Centre) in [Canada](/source/Canada). Laskey now works as a freelance writer, running workshops and teaching creative writing for many organisations. including the [University of East Anglia](/source/University_of_East_Anglia), the [Arvon Foundation](/source/Arvon_Foundation), the [Open College of the Arts](/source/Open_College_of_the_Arts), and in schools. Laskey is married to a general practitioner, and they have three sons, including the actor [Jack Laskey](/source/Jack_Laskey). Since 1978, they have lived in [Suffolk](/source/Suffolk). == Publications == * ''Cloves of Garlic'' (1988) (which won the ''Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition'') * ''Thinking of Happiness'' (Peterloo, 1991) ([Poetry Book Society Recommendation](/source/Poetry_Book_Society_Recommendation)) * ''The Tightrope Wedding'' (Smith/Doorstop, 1999) (Poetry Book Society Recommendation and shortlisted for the [T. S. Eliot Prize](/source/T._S._Eliot_Prize)) * ''In the Fruit Cage'' (1997) * ''Permission to Breathe'' (Smith/Doorstop, 2004) * ''Living by the Sea'' (Smith/Doorstop, 2007) * ''The Man Alone: New & Selected Poems'' (Smith/Doorstop, 2008) ===As Editor=== * ''The Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Anthology 1989–1998'' (ed.) (Aldeburgh Poetry Trust, 1999) *''The Difference'' by Anthony Wilson (Aldeburgh Poetry Trust, 1999) *''The Watermen'' by Roy Blackman (Smiths Knoll, 2003) *''A Small Sun'' by Mourid Barghouti (Aldeburgh Poetry Trust, 2003) *''Irresistible to Women'' by Dean Parkin (Garlic Press, 2003) *''Football on Waste Ground'' by Richard Kemp (Smiths Knoll, 2006) *''The Devil's Cut'' by Miranda Burton (Smiths Knoll, 2007) *''Hooks Working Loose'' by Margaret Easton (Garlic Press, 2007) *''Just Our Luck'' by Dean Parkin (Garlic Press, 2008) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.michaellaskey.co.uk/ Michael Laskey] - official site *[http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoet.do?poetId=14219 Profile and poems, written and audio at the Poetry Archive] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Laskey, Michael}} Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People from Lichfield Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Academics of the University of East Anglia Category:People educated at Gresham's School Category:English male poets Category:Writers from Staffordshire --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Michael Laskey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Laskey) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Laskey?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.