Tributes to man who put poetry on the front page

TRIBUTES have been paid to poet Tony Harrison, whose work made headlines as well as winning literary plaudits.

- GRAEME WHITFIELD

Though born in Leeds and referring often to his Yorkshire roots in his poetry, Mr Harrison, who died last week aged 88, moved to Newcastle for an arts fellowship in the late 1960s and stayed in the city for the rest of his life.

He was probably best known for his long poem v, which was made into a film by Channel 4 in 1987.

Inspired by vandalism of his parents' graves, it attracted criticism from a number of Conservative MPs because of its use of multiple swear words.

But it also became a much-praised state-of-the-nation piece set against the backdrop of the Miners’ Strike that captured much of the despair felt in the North during the Thatcher period.

A Journal editorial at the time defended the poem, saying that “in any other country, he would be hailed as a national cultural hero”.