Carol Rumens, poet and Guardian poet of the week, has died aged 81 | Poetry

British poet Carol Rumens, who Guardian poem of the week the column lasted for almost 20 years and was a favorite among loyal readers, he died at the age of 81.

His family said he died peacefully on April 25, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Rumens’ poems, often political, have been published in more than a dozen collections, including Animal People, De Chirico’s Thread and Blind Spots. He also wrote plays, fiction, criticism and published poetry in translation.

He started writing the Guardian’s poetry weekly column in October 2007. For two decades, he has been an enthusiastic reader, responding to every comment section.

Rumens was born on 10 December 1944 in Forest Hill, south London. He started a philosophy degree, but left before finishing and later received a diploma in writing from City College Manchester.

Her first collection, A Wonderful Girl in Vivid Colours, was published in 1973. In the mid-70s, she worked as editor of Croydon’s Pick magazine, before becoming poetry editor at Quarto and Literary Review in the early 80s.

Through the 80s, he published several books, including Star Whisper, The Green of Snow Beach and his first volume of selected poems. He also collaborated with the first poets translated from Russian, poets including Evgeny Rein and Irina Ratushinskaya. Translation poetry “reinvigorates our everyday words”, Rumens wrote in the year 2007. “It gives us the opportunity to go on a real journey, it helps us hear, see and smell new things.”

Rumens has taught at several universities, including the University of Hull, where he established an MA in creative writing, and the University of Bangor, where he was a long-term visiting professor.

The poet was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984. He was nominated for the Forward’s poetry prize for the best single poem twice, and in the same year, he won the Society of Authors Cholmondeley prize.

He The Guardian’s first poem of the week his choice was Far Rockaway by the Welsh language poet Iwan Llwyd, translated by Robert Minhinnick. Over the next two decades, he wrote nearly 1,000 columns, featuring poems that were household names among the most famous writers.

For him last paragraphpublished in February, selected two poems by Matthew Rice. In the comments section, one reader thanked her for her “excellent poem and foreword”.

In 2019, a collection of 52 weekly poems and their accompanying comments were published in a book called Smart Devices.

“I’m still surprised to find myself writing a weekly blog,” Rumens wrote in 2019. He also explained that he felt “empowered” by the investigation that took place behind the scenes. “Leaving the starting page of poetry, jumping and floating in the search galaxies, learning a little and pieces that should be unrelated but mesh because I am their author, it is as fun as writing poetry – and, in fact, very similar to it.”

Regarding the role, “I think I wanted to learn how to think about poetry, and to know what I thought about them,” he continued. “That’s selfishness, selfishness.” The less interesting point is that I feel that poets have a responsibility to care for each other (or each other’s poems). One person can’t do much but he can do something, he sounds a little bit to break the silence of stupidity that exists between poets and poets.

“I’m sick of hearing that too many poems are written and published. No, too little poetry is taught and read. Poetry is often not a butterfly or a cell phone. It has to have a long life. I wish I could write better about poetry and poetry, but I know I have to keep writing, in any way, as much as I can.”