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, and he has since published numerous volumes of poetry, as well as novels, non-fiction, and plays. He has held felloships at Princeton University, the Royal Society of Literature, the Welsh Academy of Letters, and the University of Wales College of Medicine (1999). His latest poetry collection is Running Late (2006), and his latest book of memoir, The Presence (2007), is a celebratory portrait of his 50-year marriage to the late art historian, Joan Mercer.
