Tom Leonard

texts

100 Differences Between Poetry and Prose

publications

Six Glasgow Poems (Midnight Publications, Glasgow, 1969)
A Priest Came on at Merkland Street (Midnight Publications, 1970)
Poems (E & T O’Brien, Dublin 1973)
Bunnit Husslin (Third Eye Centre,Glasgow 1975)
Three Glasgow Writers (with Alex Hamilton, James Kelman) (Molendinar Press, Glasgow, 1976)
My Name is Tom (soundpoem score) (Good Elf, London, 1978)
If Only Bunty Was Here (Radio Play) (Print Studio, Glasgow, 1979)
Ghostie Men (Galloping Dog, Newcastle, 1980)
Satires and Profanities ([stuc], Glasgow, 1984)
Situations Theoretical and Contemporary (Galloping Dog, 1986)
Two Members' Monologues & A Handy Form for Artists for Use in Connection with the City of Culture (Edward Polin, Glasgow, 1990)
nora's place (Galloping Dog, 1990)
Radical Renfrew: Poetry from the French Revolution to the First World War (ed.) (Polygon, Edinburgh, 1990)
On the Mass Bombing of Iraq and Kuwait, commonly known as The Gulf War, with Leonard's Shorter Catechism (AK Press, Stirling, 1993)
Places of the Mind: The Life and Works of James Thomson (B.V.) (Cape, London, 1993)
Reports from the Present: Writing 1982-1994 (Cape, 1995)
Etruscan Reader 5 (with Bill Griffiths and Tom Raworth) (Etruscan Books, Devon 1997)
nora's place and other poems 1965-1995, Spoken Word CD (AK Press, 1996)
Intimate Voices: Writing 1965-83 (Galloping Dog, 1984) republished London Vintage 1995; Republished Etruscan Books 2003

biographical note

Tom Leonard was born in 1944 in Glasgow. Besides his collections of poetry for the page he has performed sound poetry in festivals in Britain and abroad. He has also written critical essays, political satire, a biography of James Thomson (1834-82), and compiled the anthology of forgotten West of Scotland nineteenth century poetry Radical Renfrew. One of Leonard’s abiding concerns has been the political, hierarchical nature of language in Britain and his poetry is famous for its representation of Glaswegian working-class speech. He has been writer-in-residence at Glasgow and Strathclyde universities and Bell College of Technology. His collection Intimate Voices: Writing 1965-1983 shared the Scottish Book of the Year Award in 1984, but was at the same time banned from Scottish Central Region school libraries. It has recently been reprinted by Etruscan. In 1991 he published an analysis of the Gulf War along with a series of satirical monologues, On the Mass Bombing of Iraq and Kuwait, commonly known as The Gulf War, with Leonard’s Shorter Catechism. A CD of Leonard reading his poetry, nora’s place, was released by AK Press in 1996. Leonard presently teaches Creative Writing part-time at Glasgow University. A collection of poetry 1984-2003 Access to the Silence will be published by Etruscan in the summer of 2004.

Website

www.tomleonard.co.uk

last updated November 11, 2006

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