Facing West

Kelvin Corcoran grew up in the English Midlands the son of an alcoholic Irish father and loving mother. As a child he benefited from free school milk and the family allowance, which was essential. Through the influence of a good teacher, he went to university and read poetry. His first book was published in 1985. He was a teacher for 33 years and then for a while a voluntary worker in the NHS. After the discovery of poetry, the second great change in his life was meeting his wife, Melanie. His work belongs to no school and has been consistently praised for its lyricism and intelligence, commended by the Poetry Society and the Forward Prize committee, and commissioned by the Arts Council and Medicine Unboxed. He lives in Brussels, in Greece, and in Penwith, Cornwall.