John McCullough (poet)
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John McCullough (poet) | |
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| Born | Watford |
| Nationality | English |
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| Occupation | Poet |
John Steven McCullough is an English poet with a Ph.D from the University of Sussex. He is a tutor for the Arvon Foundation and has taught creative writing and English Literature at universities around the UK including the University of Sussex, the University of Brighton and the Open University.
The author of four books of poetry, McCullough was the winner of the 2020 Hawthornden Prize for Literature as well as the 2012 Polari First Book Prize. He was shortlisted for both the Costa Poetry Award (2019) and a Forward Prize (2021).
Early life and education
John McCullough was born in Watford and grew up in a working-class area. He later completed his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 2000. He moved to Brighton and completed his Master of Arts in English Literature at the University of Sussex in 2001 and his Ph.D in 2005.
Writing
McCullough’s poetry uses surreal imagery to explore themes including sexuality, the body, history, mental health and class. His poems are typically set in urban environments. He is influenced by writers including Frank O’Hara, Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Carson, John Ashbery, Lee Harwood and Rosemary Tonks. His books have been published in the UK by Salt Publishing and Penned in the Margins.
Works
- The Frost Fairs (Salt Publishing, 2011) McCullough’s first book of poems, is a wide-ranging collection which engages with queer history.
- Spacecraft (Penned in the Margins, 2016) is a collection focussed on the idea of absence and emptiness as forces with creative effects. It includes a long sequence on the death of McCullough’s first partner from an AIDS-related illness.
- Reckless Paper Birds (Penned in the Margins, 2019) explores the vulnerability of the body, especially as it relates to queer identity and politics. Its poems are set in contemporary Brighton.
- Panic Response (Penned in the Margins, 2022) is a book about cultural and personal anxiety. Its dark and experimental poems include the long, Forward-shortlisted piece ‘Flower of Sulphur’, which draws on McCullough’s Ph.D research into rhetoric and friendship in Renaissance England.
Awards
Winner
- 2012: Polari First Book Prize for The Frost Fairs
- 2020: Hawthornden Prize for Literature for Reckless Paper Birds
Shortlistings
- 2017: Ledbury-Forte Prize for Spacecraft
- 2019: Costa Poetry Award for Reckless Paper Birds
- 2021: Forward Prize for Best Single Poem for ‘Flower of Sulphur'
References
External links
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