Background

Peter Levi was born on May 16, 1931 in Ruislip, England, United Kingdom. He was a son of Herbert Simon Levi and Edith Mary (Tigar) Levi. He had a brother and a sister.

Education

Peter Levi was educated in the Christian Brothers. Later, he changed school to Beaumont College, a Jesuit school in Old Windsor, Berkshire.

Career

Peter Levi was a poet, translator, and author of over fifty works combined. Although his work was the subject of much criticism, he was known for emotion-stirring poetry and writings which sparked much debate among readers and critics. Among his most controversial books were the 1988 New Verses by Shakespeare and his 1977 translation of The Psalms.

He spent a year as archaeological correspondent for The Times before returning to academic life. He was a professor of poetry and the classics at Oxford University in England from 1984 to 1989. He pursued writing throughout much of his life, beginning with several volumes of poetry including Earthly Paradise and The Gravel Ponds, both published in 1958, and Beaumont, which followed in 1961. The bulk of his fiction and translations came primarily in the 1970s and 1980s.

Achievements

• Peter Levi was one of the great characters of modern literary Oxford, writing more than 60 books including fiction as well as biography, poems and travel writing. Besides having a wide reputation in England as a poet, scholar, is also known as a translator of Russian and Greek writing. His books were launched by literary critics.

Works

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  • Horace: A Life

    (The work of the great Roman poet, Horatius Flaccus (65 BC...)

    1997
  • Eden Renewed: The Public and Private Life of John Milton

    (The first full work on Milton in more than thirty years o...)

    1996
  • Tennyson

    (Peter Levi, a prolific poet and one of England's most wel...)

    1993
  • Peter Levi: Collected Poems 1955-1975

    (Peter Levi's "Collected Poems 1955-1975" includes every b...)

    1976
  • Shadow and Bone: Poems 1981 - 1988

    ("Shadow and Bone" is Peter Levi's first collection of poe...)

    1989
  • Private Ground

    (In these poems written since 'Five Ages' (1978), Peter Le...)

    1981
  • Viriditas

    (Peter Levi's final collection contains the moving lyrics ...)

    2001
  • Virgil; His Life And Times

    (An intriguing biography provides readers with an in-depth...)

    1998
  • Shakespeare's Birthday

    (The lamentation of the dead has been a preoccupation in P...)

    1985
  • The Light Garden of the Angel King: Journeys in Afghanistan

    (From time immemorial, merchants, pilgrims, and invaders f...)

    1984
  • Water Rock and Sand

    (This second collection reveals Levi, a religious contempl...)

    1962
  • The Hill of Kronos

    (Peter Levi paints a radiant portrait of the Greece he cam...)

    1980
  • Boris Pasternak

    (A biography of the Russian writer Boris Pasternak, writte...)

    1990
  • Death is a Pulpit

    (This book contains five poems, each written for public pe...)

    1971
  • The Noise Made by Poems

    ('Most of what there is to learn about poetry has to be le...)

    1977
  • Goodbye to the Art of Poetry

    (Nothing could be less like a lecture or a sermon than thi...)

    1989
  • The Gravel Ponds

    (Peter Levi's first book of poetry.)

    1960
  • Life is a Platform

    (This collection contains 40 poems.)

    1971
  • Fresh Water, Sea Water

    (This is a collection of poetry.)

    1966
  • Ruined Abbeys

    (This is a collection of poetry.)

    1968
  • Pancakes for the Queen of Babylon

    (This is a collection of poetry.)

    1968
  • Reed Music

    (This is a collection of poetry.)

    1997
  • Five ages

    (This is a collection of poems.)

    1978
  • The Echoing Green: Three Elegies

    (This is a collection of poems.)

    1983
  • A Bottle in the Shade 1996
  • Atlas of the Greek world 1980
  • The Greek World 1981
  • History of Greek Literature 1985

Religion

In his early years, Peter Levi was a Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesuits. He left the priesthood in 1977.

Views

When Peter Levi was 14, Oscar Wilde had become his literary idol.

Personality

Physical Characteristics: During his teenage years, Peter Levi suffered from polio while he was at school and a serious car crash while at Oxford. The after-effects of these were to affect him throughout his life.

Interests

• Writers

  Oscar Wilde

Connections

In 1977 Peter Levi married Deirdre Craig, a granddaughter of Lord Craigavon, and a widow of Cyril Connolly. He had two stepdaughters and two stepsons.

Father:

Herbert Simon Levi

Mother:

Edith Mary Tigar

Spouse:

Deirdre Craig

Brother:

Anthony Levi

Sister:

Gillian Levi

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2000