DANNIE ABSE was born in Cardiff to Jewish parents. He studied medicine in Wales and at King's College, London, qualifying as a doctor in 1950. His first collection of poetry, After Every Green Thing, was published in 1948. He he has since published numerous volumes of poetry, as well as novels, non-fiction, and plays. He has held fellowships at Princeton University, the Royal Society of Literature, the Welsh Academy of Letters, and the University of Wales College of Medicine (1999). His most recent books are a poetry collection, Running Late (2006), and a memoir, The Presence (2007), a celebratory portrait of his 50-year marriage to the late art historian Joan Mercer.


“Nothing less than pleasure—which is the justification for poetry according to the younger and older Wordsworth—is to be got from Dr. Abse's poems.”—David Wright 

“I've long thought Dannie Abse one of the most remarkable poets now writing.”—Godfrey Smith, London Sunday Times