Resources:
A Welsh Retrospective
After Every Green Thing
The Presence
New Selected Poems
Dannie Abse
Poet Dannie Abse was born on 22 September 1923 in Cardiff to Jewish parents. He studied Medicine in Wales and at King’s College, London, qualifying as a doctor in 1950. His first collection of poetry, After Every Green Thing, was published in 1948, and he has continued to combine his careers as both a doctor (he was a specialist at the Central Medical Establishment chest clinic between 1954 and 1989) and writer, aspects of his life that, together with his Jewish background and Welsh nationality, are integral themes in his poetry. ??
His latest book of memoir, The Presence (2007), is a celebratory portrait of his 50-year marriage. It won the Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year Award in 2008. New Selected Poems (2009) has been published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of his first collection After Every Green Thing.
Video recordings made by The English and Media Centre in 1995.