Martyn Crucefix

Martyn Crucefix is a poet, reviewer and blogger. He has published twelve original collections, most recently Cargo of Limbs (Hercules Editions, 2019; photographs by Amel Alzakout), a powerful repurposing of lines from Virgil’s Aeneid, exploring the plight of refugees in the Mediterranean. O. at the Edge of the Gorge, a crown of sonnets evoking the ancient and modern landscapes of Italy (illustrated by Phyllida Bluemel) is published by Guillemot Press. The Lovely Disciplines (Seren Books) was published in 2017. Martyn has won prizes in many competitions, an Eric Gregory award and a Hawthornden Fellowship. He works as a tutor with the Poetry School and has sat on the Poetry Society’s General Council. Martyn has also developed a career as a translator of poetry. His translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies (Enitharmon) was shortlisted for the Popescu prize in 2007. His version of the ancient Chinese philosophical classic, the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), was published in 2016. Most recently, These Numbered Days, a translation of the work of Peter Huchel, originally written in the German Democratic Republic during the 1960/70s, was published by Shearsman Books. Complementing his writing, Martyn has successfully worked as a teacher of GCSE and A level English, for fifteen years as head of department. The challenges and anxieties of putting pen to paper in an academic environment are problems he well understands and, drawing on his experience, is adept at finding solutions. More recently Martyn has been developing an interest in photography.