Letters from Douglas Dunn to Tony Flynn

Scope and Content

Comprises letters discussing aspects of publishing poetry

Administrative / Biographical History

After qualifying as a librarian at the Scottish School of Librarianship, Douglas Dunn worked in a number of libraries in Britain and America before becoming a student at the University of Hull, where he graduated in English in 1969. His first collection of poetry, Terry Street, based on his observations while living in this now redeveloped street in central Hull, was published in 1969. Dunn then worked as an assistant librarian in the Brynmor Jones Library for two years before leaving to work full-time as a writer. He was Fellow in Creative Writing in the University in 1974/75 and continued to live in Hull until the death of his wife Lesley in 1981. He then returned to his native Scotland, where he now lives near Dundee with his second wife, also Lesley, and family. Since 1991 he has been a Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews. He has published several collections of poetry and works of literary criticism. Among the many awards he has received are the Whitbread Poetry prize in 1985 and Whitbread Book of the Year 1986 for Elegies (1985), a moving commemoration of the death of his first wife. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1981 and is a member of the Scottish Arts Council.

Access Information

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Custodial History

Purchased from Tony Flynn, 11 Cambridge Street, Walsall, W51 4BZ on 25 May 1994

Related Material

Other papers of Douglas Dunn are at U DDD, U DP183 and U DP184