 Robert
Minhinnick (b. 1952) is a Welsh poet, essayist and environmental activist.
He has published six collections of poems, which Carcanet published a
selection of in 1999 in Selected Poems. His earliest poems are set amidst
heavy industry and describe the landscapes of the poet's childhood in
Wales. His later poems move about Brazil and the USA, and develops broader
views of history and culture. Minhinnick's poems have won a number of
literary awards, most recently, in 1999, the Forward Prize for Best Individual
Poem. Twenty-five Laments for Iraq can be read on the Internet (www.cam.ac.uk/societies/casi/info/25laments.html).
Minhinnick is currently working on his third collection of essays. The
ironic and impressionistic essays in his second collection (Badlands,
1996) spread out a broad map of the absurd zones of the world. They take
a look at post-communist Albania, the pecularities of California, and
the current state of Wales and England. Minhinnick's hyperbolic style
has been compared to that of Martin Amis and his wanderlust to Bruce Chatwin's.
Minhinnick has also edited collections of essays on conservation, including
The Green Agenda: Essays on The Environment of Wales (1994). He
is currently editor-in-chief of the Poetry Wales literary magazine
and lives in the town of Portcawl in South Wales. His interests include
collecting driftwood, cooking curry meals, playing beach soccer and training
jellyfish. |