Vernon Scannell
Vernon Scannell (1922-2007) was a British poet, novelist, and playwright whose work often explored themes of mortality and violence, influenced by his diverse life experiences, particularly his military service. Born in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, he left school at fourteen to work in an accounting firm before enlisting in the British Army during World War II, where he served in the Gordon Highlanders and was wounded in France. After the war, he briefly pursued a career as a professional boxer while beginning to publish his poetry, studying under notable writer G. Wilson Knight at Leeds University.
Scannell's literary career began in earnest with the publication of his first poetry collection, "Graves and Resurrections," in 1948, although he later distanced himself from this work. He achieved recognition with subsequent collections, including "The Masks of Love," which earned the Heinemann Award for Literature, and the Cholmondeley Poetry Prize for "The Winter Man." Throughout his life, Scannell faced personal challenges, including struggles with alcoholism, which affected his family life and relationships. Despite these challenges, he maintained a prolific writing career, continuing to publish poetry and other works, including his later collections in the 2000s. He was honored as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, reflecting his significant contributions to contemporary British poetry.
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Vernon Scannell
Writer
- Born: January 23, 1922
- Birthplace: Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England
- Died: November 17, 2007
- Place of death: England
Biography
Drawing on his varied experiences, especially his military service, poet Vernon Scannell seems to be drawn back repeatedly to the themes of mortality and the threat of violence. He was born on January 23, 1922, in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England, the son of a photographer father who eventually settled the family in Buckinghamshire. Scannell was educated there until the age of fourteen, when he left school to work in an accounting firm. In 1940, he enlisted in the British army, serving in the Gordon Highlanders, and was wounded in action near Caen, France, in 1944. He deserted the army after Victory in Europe (V-E) Day in 1945, spending the next two years in London and Leeds as a professional boxer and academic tutor. During this time, Scannell also had his first poems published and studied at Leeds University under writer G. Wilson Knight. Arrested in 1947 to be tried for desertion, Scannell was eventually discharged from the army and returned to Leeds.
In 1948, Scannell published his first volume of poetry, Graves and Resurrections, a book he has since repudiated, and began working on his first novels, The Fight (1953) and The Wound and the Scar (1953), as well as scripts for British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio. He began teaching in West London in 1950 and taught English at Hazelwood School, Limpsfield, Surrey, from 1955 to 1962. His second and third volumes of poetry, A Mortal Pitch (1957) and The Masks of Love (1960), garnered mixed reviews; despite this, the latter received the Heinemann Award for Literature. Scannell also received the Cholmondeley Poetry Prize in 1974 for The Winter Man (1973). His Selected Poems came out in 1971, along with a steady progression of other collections and several novels. With Ted Hughes and Patricia Beer, he coedited New Poems, 1962: A PEN Anthology of Contemporary Poetry (1962). Scannell has also written several volumes of his autobiography and books of academic criticism, notably Not Without Glory: Poets of the Second World War (1976).
Scannell married Josephine Higson in October, 1954, and the couple eventually had six children; however, the marriage endured much strain due to Scannell’s heavy drinking. In 1967 Scannell spent two months in prison for drunken driving and his family moved from Limpsfield, where Scannell had resigned his teaching position in order to write full time, to Nether Compton, Dorset. Scannell left his wife in 1974 and moved to Rhydyfelin, Wales. Since that time he has been awarded fellowships as writer- in-residence in Berinsfield, Oxfordshire; Shrewsbury School; and the King’s School, Canterbury. In 1980, Scannell published New and Collected Poems: 1950-1980, omitting all of his first collection of poems and any others not up to his more mature standards as a poet. Scannell continued to write and publish when he was in his eighties. In 2003, he published two new poetry collections, A Time for Fires: Poems by Vernon Scannell and Of Love and War: New and Selected Poems. Scannell is an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.