182:, and came to make a living as a commercial photographer. Scannell attended the local Queen's Park Boys' School, an elementary council school. He left school at the age of 14 to work as a clerk in an insurance office. His real passions, however, were for the unlikely combination of boxing and literature. He had been winning boxing titles at school and had been a keen reader from a very early age, although not properly attaching to poetry until about 15 years old, when he picked up a
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military penal institutions in
Alexandria before being released on a suspended sentence to take part in the Normandy landings. His war ended when he was shot in both legs while on night patrol near Caen. He was shipped back to a military hospital at Winwick in Lancashire before being sent on to a convalescent depot. Scannell had always very much disliked army life, finding nothing in his temperament which fitted him for the part of a soldier. Following the end of the war in Europe (
344:(1983). The unadorned narrative covers five years' military service and a brief boxing career. Scannell writes about the conclusion to his army life, "Twenty-five years ago, 1945...was the year I made what might seem like a desperate decision and performed what might appear to be an act of criminal folly, manic selfishness, zany recklessness, abject cowardice or even, perhaps, eccentric courage. I deserted from the Army." The first recipient of the Owen Award,
318:, the critic, commented: "Scannell nearly always works on two levels, one realistic and external, the other imaginative, metaphorical, haunted by memory and desire. A master of the dramatic monologue, his work is drenched in humanity. It resounds with memories." Scannell also wrote the verse narration for
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said that "the business of poetry is to harmonise the sadness of the universe" and
Scannell quoted this with approval. Scannell's poems, with their themes of love, violence and mortality, were shaped and influenced by his wartime experiences. Scannell was awarded a Writing Fellowship in 1975 as
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he watched as his Gordon
Highlanders moved through the recently taken position, looting the dead, both Allied and Axis. Revolted, he walked away. He was caught and court-martialled for deserting a forward area. Sentenced to three years' imprisonment, he spent six months in one of the harshest
223:) he deserted again and spent two years on the run, earning his living with jobs in the theatre, professional boxing bouts and tutoring and coaching, all the while teaching himself by reading everything he could. During this evasive time Scannell was writing poetry and was first published in
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to explore racial attitudes in 1950s
Britain. He argues that its depictions of reactions to a black boxer illustrate the diversity of racial attitudes, including outright racism, better than contemporary sociological studies where private assumptions and thoughts were hidden.
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Scannell enlisted in the army "as a lark" in 1940, shortly after war was declared. He joined the Argyll and
Sutherland Highlanders, and two years later was transferred to the Gordon Highlanders, a part of the
337:(1965). The title poem recollects a column of men returning from battle: "No one was suffering from a lethal hurt, They were not magnified by noble wounds, There was no splendour in that company."
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in a letter to Andrew Taylor said he admired
Scannell's poems "not only for their sturdy metrical pace and structure, but for their combination of mordancy and a sense of mortality".
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Scannell, a fellow of the Royal
Society of Literature, won many poetry awards, including for war poems such as his collection
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and later, in 1979 he spent a term as Poet in
Residence at the King's School, Canterbury. His final collection,
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in
Ireland, Beeston, and Eccles, before settling in Buckinghamshire. Bain spent most of his youth growing up in
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and then went to London, where, supporting himself with teaching jobs and boxing, he settled down to writing.
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Association "in recognition of his contribution to war poetry". Scannell's best-known book of war poetry is
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Three Poets, Two
Children: Leonard Clark, Vernon Scannell, Dannie Abse, Answer Questions by Two Children
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Scannell married the painter Josephine Higson who survives him, along with four of their six children.
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wrote to Scannell in a letter in 1953: "you write good poetry and that is all that matters".
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Simon Jenkins, "Created on a canvas of needless pain: a poet who inspired the underbelly"
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poem and was "instantly and permanently hooked". He frequently read both the poetry of
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372:, West Yorkshire, where he died at his home at the age of 85 after a long illness.
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154:, and wrote novels about the sport of boxing. He was a famous poet of English.
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1162:"Texts, Audiences and Postmodernism: The Novel as Source in Sport History"
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202:. The war took him into action in the North African desert. He fought at
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170:, Lincolnshire. The family, always poor, moved frequently, including
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Hazelwood School where Vernon Scannell taught History and Boxing
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Walking Wounded: The Life and Poetry of Vernon Scannell
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Walking Wounded: The Life and Poetry of Vernon Scannell
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Walking Wounded: The Life and Poetry of Vernon Scannell
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Historian Martin Johnes has used Scannell's 1951 novel
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in recognition of his services to literature in 1981.
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Scannell spent the final years of his life living in
298:for poetry in 1974. He was elected a Fellow of the
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639:The Clever Potato – A Feast of Poetry for Children
214:. Following an assault on an Axis-held hill near
1429:British Army personnel who were court-martialled
1291:War Poets' Association Entry for Vernon Scannell
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570:Not Without Glory: Poets of the Second World War
1444:Prisoners and detainees of the British military
809:Drums of Morning – Growing up in the Thirties
178:in Buckinghamshire. His father had fought in
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1296:Alan Brownjohn, "Vernon Scannell (obituary)"
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267:, Oxfordshire, an experience he recounts in
1312:Anthony Thwaite, "Vernon Scannell Obituary"
1256:Vernon Scannell on Desert Island Discs 1987
1419:Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers
1394:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
329:He also received a special award from the
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1058:, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
701:Of Love & War: New and Selected Poems
340:Scannell is also the author of a memoir,
206:and across the western desert during the
1251:Poetry reading on CD by Vernon Scannell
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1414:British Army personnel of World War II
162:Vernon Scannell, whose birth name was
1286:Vernon Scannell at the Poetry Archive
645:Soldiering On. Poems of Military Life
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1230:Bierman, John; Smith, Colin (2002).
1206:"A Place to Live by Vernon Scannell"
421:New Poems 1962: A P. E. N. Anthology
290:in 1961 for an early poetry volume,
1261:"Vernon Scannell, painter and poet"
1033:New & Collected Poems 1950–1980
602:New & Collected Poems 1950–1980
592:New & Collected Poems 1950–1980
14:
1409:20th-century English male writers
1379:Alumni of the University of Leeds
1308:, The Telegraph, 19 November 2007
1127:, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1971.
1094:, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1971.
635:(Oxford, 1987), editor, anthology
600:(Robson Books, 1980; as part of
1434:English prisoners and detainees
1232:Alamein : War Without Hate
697:(Enitharmon Press, 2000), poems
471:Epithets of War – Poems 1965–69
456:Walking Wounded – Poems 1962–65
1035:, London: Robson Books, 1980.
952:, London: Robson Books, 1992.
887:Verse narration to BBC TV film
545:The Apple-Raid and Other Poems
288:Heinemann Award for Literature
247:. On discharge he returned to
1:
1439:People convicted of desertion
1246:A sample of Scannell's poetry
627:Funeral Games and Other Poems
1306:"Vernon Scannell (obituary)"
1075:"Vernon Scannell (obituary)"
572:(Woburn Press, 1976), editor
517:Incident at West Bay, a poem
243:, a mental institution near
241:Northfield Military Hospital
1424:Gordon Highlanders soldiers
858:(Robson Books, 1983), novel
824:(Peter Nevill, 1953), novel
675:(Robson Books, 1996), poems
659:(Robson Books, 1991), poems
529:(Allison & Busby, 1973)
300:Royal Society of Literature
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1369:20th-century English poets
1337:"Vernon Scannell: Teacher"
1234:. London, England: Viking.
744:(Shoestring Press, 2007),
235:. He was also boxing for
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1344:Leeds University Library
1166:Journal of Sport History
1012:, London: Robson Books.
997:Bierman & Smith 2002
975:, London: Woburn Press.
937:Bierman & Smith 2002
830:(John Long, 1960), novel
770:They Did Not Expect This
679:Collected Poems, 1950–93
673:The Black and White Days
651:Love Shouts and Whispers
578:(Mapletree, 1979), poems
387:Graves and Resurrections
903:Oxford University Press
535:(1973), broadsheet poem
475:Eyre & Spottiswoode
401:(Villiers, 1957), poems
60:, Lincolnshire, England
16:English writer and poet
787:The Tiger and the Rose
775:The death of a snowman
727:A Case of Murder poems
561:A Morden Tower Reading
393:The Wound and The Scar
342:The Tiger and the Rose
302:in 1960 and granted a
200:51st Highland Division
166:, was born in 1922 in
1384:People from Aylesbury
1342:Archival material at
1144:"Network your poetry"
1054:James Andrew Taylor,
897:James Andrew Taylor:
871:(Piatkus Books, 1984)
836:(Putnam, 1961), novel
834:The Face of the Enemy
539:Meeting in Manchester
427:, 1962), editor with
417:(Putnam, 1962), poems
190:and the thrillers of
1110:Foreword to Taylor,
1010:An Argument of Kings
811:(Robson Books, 1992)
805:(Robson Books, 1977)
797:An Argument of Kings
759:Happy Dragons' Press
703:(Robson Books, 2002)
681:(Robson Books, 1998)
647:(Robson Books, 1989)
629:(Robson Books, 1987)
623:(Robson Books, 1982)
610:(1982), poems, with
594:(Robson Books, 1980)
395:(Peter Nevill, 1953)
1399:English male boxers
1389:People from Spilsby
1081:, 19 November 2007.
875:How To Enjoy Poetry
869:How to Enjoy Novels
765:Death of a Snow Man
695:Views and Distances
633:Sporting Literature
563:(1976) poems, with
549:Chatto & Windus
501:Allison & Busby
487:Mastering the Craft
125:Jo Higson (Painter)
109:University of Leeds
1404:English male poets
1374:World War II poets
1333:, 23 November 2007
1318:, 19 November 2007
1302:, 19 November 2007
1282:, 20 November 2007
1186:. 18 November 2007
1125:Tiger and the Rose
1092:Tiger and the Rose
948:Scannell, Vernon,
840:The Shadowed Place
803:A Proper Gentleman
712:The Gunpowder Plot
582:Loving Game: Poems
533:Wish You Were Here
521:The Keepsake Press
481:The Dangerous Ones
438:The Dividing Night
304:Civil List pension
296:Cholmondeley Award
269:A Proper Gentleman
210:'s drive to reach
1273:, 5 December 2007
1263:, article in the
1133:978-0-241-02054-8
1100:978-0-241-02054-8
1090:Scannell Vernon,
1018:978-0-86051-444-2
973:Not Without Glory
911:978-0-19-960318-3
885:A House that Died
750:978-1-904886-67-9
621:Winterlude: Poems
576:Of Love And Music
415:A Sense of Danger
405:The Masks of Love
346:Christopher Logue
324:A House that Died
292:The Masks of Love
263:Resident Poet in
184:Walter de la Mare
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685:Feminine Endings
663:Travelling Light
657:A Time for Fires
612:Gregory Harrison
507:Company of Women
483:(Elsevier, 1970)
322:Television film
286:He received the
237:Leeds University
164:John Vernon Bain
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68:16 November 2007
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308:Stephen Spender
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172:Ballaghaderreen
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117:Poetry, English
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846:The Big Time
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732:Uncle Albert
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188:Thomas Hardy
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70:(2007-11-16)
18:
1364:2007 deaths
1359:1922 births
1008:Cover note
667:Bodley Head
265:Berinsfield
232:The Adelphi
208:Eighth Army
180:World War I
98:Nationality
1353:Categories
1041:0860511049
981:0713000945
958:1861052464
917:References
901:, Oxford:
707:Incendiary
466:Jon Silkin
433:Ted Hughes
425:Hutchinson
316:John Carey
294:, and the
245:Birmingham
204:El Alamein
82:Occupation
51:1922-01-23
1279:The Times
1148:The Times
822:The Fight
742:Last Post
357:The Fight
273:Last Post
176:Aylesbury
106:Education
77:, England
1190:22 March
905:, 2013,
850:Longmans
221:V.E. Day
138:Children
90:Language
1224:Sources
1114:, 2013.
881:, 1983)
816:Fiction
793:, 1972)
761:, 2007)
669:, 1991)
598:Nettles
588:, 1979)
551:, 1974)
523:, 1972)
513:, 1971)
503:, 1971)
493:, 1970)
477:, 1969)
226:Tribune
212:Tunisia
168:Spilsby
130:Partner
114:Subject
101:British
93:English
58:Spilsby
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909:
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557:(1975)
541:(1974)
458:(1965)
446:(1963)
409:Putnam
381:Poetry
122:Spouse
85:Writer
863:Other
757:(The
376:Works
370:Otley
364:Death
350:Iliad
249:Leeds
216:Gabes
152:boxer
1213:2009
1192:2016
1129:ISBN
1096:ISBN
1060:ISBN
1037:ISBN
1014:ISBN
977:ISBN
954:ISBN
907:ISBN
746:ISBN
614:and
431:and
229:and
158:Life
133:none
65:Died
43:Born
1269:by
1266:TLS
320:BBC
1355::
1329:,
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1298:,
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