Subject strengths: Literature, Contemporary Literature, Poetry

Peter Bennet was born in Staffordshire in 1942. He went as a scholarship boy to King's School Macclesfield, and then to Manchester College of Art and Design, where he was influenced by Norman Adams and his wife, the poet Anna Adams. He taught in secondary and further education, including work with redundant steelworkers following the closure of Consett Steel Works, and spent sixteen years as Tutor Organiser for Northumberland with the Workers' Educational Association. He gave up painting for writing in 1980 and did a part-time MA at Newcastle University, including a study of W.S.Graham.Peter Bennet has published collections with Bloodaxe Books and Flambard Press including Border: New & Selected Poems (2013), Goblin Lawn (2005), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, The Glass Swarm (2008), a Poetry Book Society Choice which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, and A Game of Bear (2011). He has received major awards from New Writing North and Arts Council England and been a prizewinner in the National and the Arvon International Poetry Competitions, and in the Basil Bunting Awards.

Collection Name and Collection Reference Code:

Collection Name: Bennet (Peter) Archive

Archive Ref Code: GB186/PB

Date Range of Material

1985-2017

Type of Material

Personal archive of Peter Bennet.

Size of Collection

3 crates

How To Order Items From This Collection

Please use the finding aid below to search through a list of the individual items we have within this collection. If you find an item you would like to consult in the Special Collections reading room, simply make a note of the reference number and title of the item(s) you are interested in (for example a folder of typescript poetry drafts).You can then place your order by linking to our Request Form.

Finding Aid

Archival catalogue available via the Archives Hub.

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Other resources

Material from this archive was used in our Treasures of the Month feature for July 2019.

Material from this archive has been included in an exhibition 'Contemporary Poetry Collections: Poets and their Archives'.