Famous 21st Century British Poets

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 1 
Donovan
(Singer-songwriter, Guitarist, Composer, Autobiographer, Writer, Poet, Record producer, Film score composer)
Donovan
9
Birthdate: May 10, 1946
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland

Donovan is a Scottish guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for developing and popularizing a distinctive and eclectic style that blended many genres, such as folk, jazz, pop, calypso, and psychedelic rock. Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

 2 
Michael Rosen
(Children's author and poet who has written 140 books)
Michael Rosen
7
Birthdate: May 7, 1946
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Harrow, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
 3 
Carol Ann Duffy
8
Birthdate: December 23, 1955
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
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 4 
Benjamin Zephaniah
(Actor, Poet, Writer, Singer)
Benjamin Zephaniah
6
Birthdate: April 15, 1958
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Birmingham
 5 
Frieda Hughes
(Painter, Poet)
Frieda Hughes
10
Birthdate: April 1, 1960
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: London, England
 6 
Daniel Tammet
(Inspirational Author and Autistic Savant Known for His Memoir 'Born on a Blue Day')
Daniel Tammet
6
Birthdate: January 31, 1979
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Barking, London, England

Daniel Tammet grew up having seizures and was later diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. A rare prodigious savant, he set a record by reciting the value of pi to 22,514 decimal places. He is best known for his memoir Born on a Blue Day and has also launched the language-learning site Optimnem.

 7 
John Berger
(Novelist)
John Berger
7
Birthdate: November 5, 1926
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: London, England
Died: January 2, 2017
 8 
Johnny Marr
(Guitarist, Poet, Singer, Songwriter, Record producer)
Johnny Marr
10
Birthdate: October 31, 1963
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Manchester, England
 9 
Walter de La Mare
(Poet)
Walter de La Mare
5
Birthdate: April 25, 1873
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Charlton, London Charlton, Kent, England, UK
Died: June 22, 1956
 10 
Genesis P-Orridge
(Singer-songwriter)
Genesis P-Orridge
13
Birthdate: February 22, 1950
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Manchester, England
 11 
Diana Wynne Jones
(Known for Writing Fantasy and Speculative Fiction Novels for Children and Young Adults)
Diana Wynne Jones
4
Birthdate: August 16, 1934
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: London, England
Died: March 26, 2011

Diana Wynne Jones was an English writer who is known for  fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults.. She began writing stories for her siblings at the age of thirteen. However, she was actually introduced to children's literature while reading out to her sons, starting to write on her own once her children started going to school, authoring more than forty books in her lifetime.

 12 
Simon Armitage
(Poet)
Simon Armitage
5
Birthdate: May 26, 1963
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
 13 
Jeremy Lloyd
(Writer)
Jeremy Lloyd
6
Birthdate: July 22, 1930
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Danbury, England
Died: December 23, 2014
 14 
Leslie Bricusse
(Composer, Musician, Playwright, Lyricist, Screenwriter, Poet, Songwriter, Film score composer)
Leslie Bricusse
6
Birthdate: January 29, 1931
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: London
 15 
Mark Haddon
(Writer)
Mark Haddon
6
Birthdate: September 26, 1962
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Northampton, England, United Kingdom
 16 
Arlo Parks
(Singer-songwriter, Poet)
Arlo Parks
1
Birthdate: August 9, 2000
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: London, England
 17 
Craig Charles
(Actor)
Craig Charles
7
Birthdate: July 11, 1964
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Liverpool, England, UK
 18 
Akala
(Rapper)
Akala
6
Birthdate: December 1, 1983
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Kentish Town, London, England
 19 
Roger McGough
(Poet, performer, and children's author)
Roger McGough
3
Birthdate: November 9, 1937
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Litherland, Lancashire, England
 20 
Vivian Stanshall
(Musician)
Vivian Stanshall
6
Birthdate: March 21, 1943
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Oxford, England
Died: March 5, 1995
 21 
John Agard
(Playwright, Poet, Children's writer)
John Agard
4
Birthdate: June 21, 1949
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Georgetown, Guyana
 22 
Alan Titchmarsh
(Television presenter, Horticulturist)
Alan Titchmarsh
0
Birthdate: May 2, 1949
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Ilkley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
 23 
John Cooper Clarke
(Poet)
John Cooper Clarke
12
Birthdate: January 25, 1949
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Salford, Manchester, England
 24 
Felix Dennis
(Publisher)
Felix Dennis
6
Birthdate: May 27, 1947
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England
Died: June 22, 2014
 25 
Andrew Motion
(British Poet, Novelist, Biographer and Poet Laureate From 1999 to 2009)
Andrew Motion
3
Birthdate: October 26, 1952
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: London, England

English Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, the first laureate to serve a fixed term, is best known for his narrative poetry and works such as The Pleasure Steamers. He has also penned biographies of John Keats and the Lambert family members. He has also been knighted for his achievements.

 26 
David Tibet
(Musician, Painter, Poet)
David Tibet
3
Birthdate: March 5, 1960
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Batu Gajah
 27 
Edward Bond
(Writer, Screenwriter, Playwright, Poet, Theatre director, Librettist)
Edward Bond
3
Birthdate: July 18, 1934
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: London
 28 
Heathcote Williams
(Actor, Poet, Author, Screenwriter, Writer)
Heathcote Williams
6
Birthdate: November 15, 1941
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Helsby
 29 
James Fenton
(Poet)
James Fenton
4
Birthdate: April 25, 1949
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Lincoln, England
 30 
Valerie Eliot
(Second Wife and Widow of the Nobel Prize-Winning Poet T. S. Eliot)
Valerie Eliot
4
Birthdate: August 17, 1926
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Leeds, England
Died: November 9, 2012
The second wife of legendary English poet T.S. Eliot, Valerie Eliot had longed to work with the poet since she was a 14-year-old schoolgirl and he was 50. She eventually married him when she was 30 and he was 68. As his literary executor, she released many of his significant posthumous works.
 31 
Al Alvarez
(Author of Many Non-Fiction Books)
Al Alvarez
3
Birthdate: August 5, 1929
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: London, England
Died: September 23, 2019

Best known for works such as The Savage God, which spoke about suicide, and the psychological thriller Day of Atonement, Al Alvarez was educated at Oxford and later became the youngest Christian Gauss lecturer at Princeton. His poems and other works carried themes of love and loss.

 32 
Elizabeth Jennings
(Poet)
Elizabeth Jennings
3
Birthdate: July 18, 1926
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Boston, England
Died: October 26, 2001
 33 
Peter Dickinson
(Author)
Peter Dickinson
3
Birthdate: December 16, 1927
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Livingstone, Zambia
Died: December 16, 2015
 34 
Geoffrey Hill
(Poet, Writer)
Geoffrey Hill
0
Birthdate: June 18, 1932
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom
Died: June 30, 2016
 35 
Charles Tomlinson
(Poet)
Charles Tomlinson
2
Birthdate: January 8, 1927
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Stoke-on-Trent, England
Died: August 22, 2015
 36 
Kathleen Raine
(Poet)
Kathleen Raine
3
Birthdate: June 14, 1908
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Ilford, England
Died: July 6, 2003
 37 
D.J. Enright
(Poet)
D.J. Enright
2
Birthdate: March 11, 1920
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
Died: December 31, 2002
 38 
U.A. Fanthorpe
(Poet)
U.A. Fanthorpe
2
Birthdate: July 22, 1929
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: London, England
Died: April 28, 2009
 39 
D.M. Thomas
(Novelist)
D.M. Thomas
2
Birthdate: January 27, 1935
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Redruth, England
 40 
Wilson Harris
(Writer)
Wilson Harris
2
Birthdate: March 24, 1921
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New Amsterdam, Guyana
Died: March 8, 2018
 41 
Rowan Douglas Williams
(104th Archbishop of Canterbury)
Rowan Douglas Williams
4
Birthdate: June 14, 1950
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales

Rowan Douglas Williams became the first archbishop of Canterbury who was not from the Church of England. The Welsh Anglican bishop has been quite liberal in his views on homosexuality. He has also taught theology courses at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and is a life peer.

 42 
Anthony Joseph
(Poet)
Anthony Joseph
2
Birthdate: November 12, 1966
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
 43 
Peter Porter
(Poet)
Peter Porter
3
Birthdate: February 16, 1929
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Brisbane, Australia
Died: April 23, 2010

Peter Porter was a British-based Australian poet. Born in Australia, he had a difficult early life. He later moved to the United Kingdom, where he was able to establish himself in a successful writing career. He was made a Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature in 2007.  The Peter Porter Poetry Prize is named in his honor. 

 44 
Fred D'Aguiar
(Known for first collection of poetry, Mama Dot (1985))
Fred D'Aguiar
0
Birthdate: February 2, 1960
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: London, England
 45 
Yaltah Menuhin
(Musician)
Yaltah Menuhin
5
Birthdate: October 7, 1921
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: San Francisco, California, United States
Died: June 9, 2001
 46 
David Gascoyne
(Poet)
David Gascoyne
2
Birthdate: October 10, 1916
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Harrow, England
Died: November 25, 2001
 47 
Roger Robinson
(Poet)
Roger Robinson
1
Birthdate: 1982 AD
Birthplace: London Borough of Hackney Hackney, London, England
 48 
Elaine Feinstein
(Poet)
Elaine Feinstein
2
Birthdate: October 24, 1930
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Bootle, England
Died: September 23, 2019
 49 
Emanuel Litvinoff
(Novelist)
Emanuel Litvinoff
1
Birthdate: May 5, 1915
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: London, England
Died: September 24, 2011
 50 
John La Rose
(Writer, Activist)
John La Rose
1
Birthdate: December 27, 1927
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Arima, Trinidad and Tobago
Died: February 28, 2006

John La Rose was a political activist, poet, and writer. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, he moved to Britain later on. In 1966, he founded New Beacon Books, the first specialist Caribbean publishing company in Britain. He was also a co-founder of the influential Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM) and the Black Parents Movement. He received the Henry Swanzy Award.