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Tristram Fane Saunders appointed Fellow Commoner in the Creative Arts

Poet and critic Tristram Fane Saunders is appointed Fellow Commoner in the Creative Arts at Trinity from October 2024 for two years.

He has published five pamphlets of poetry, including the award-winning Woodsong, and the poetry collection, Before We Go Any Further (Carcanet 2023), ‘A debut packed full of surprises’ according to Philip Terry in The Guardian, which ‘charts the emergence of a new voice which is at once warm and edgy.’

Currently Mr Fane Saunders is Senior Commissioning Editor at The Telegraph, the only UK national newspaper that prints poetry every week.

I’m thrilled to be taking up this extraordinary post and hope I can do it justice. I can’t wait to immerse myself in the life of the College, by hosting workshops and live events, and encouraging the next generation of writers.

As my poetry has always been fuelled by new discoveries and eclectic research, I’m planning to interview lecturers from across the University, using their work in fields from philosophy to mathematics as a stepping-off point for the poems in my second collection, Unless.

While at Trinity, Mr Fane Saunders will also research his first non-fiction book, The Isle is Full of Noises, a study of writers, artists and musicians on the Isle of Wight.

As well as directing the live poetry reading series GRAVY, he has performed his work at the Latitude Festival, StAnza and the Edinburgh Fringe, and reviewed new collections for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Front Row.’

Emeritus Fellow in English Literature, Professor Adrian Poole, said:

Trinity has a strong record of supporting the creative arts and an enviable literary history. It is more than 50 years since the post of Fellow Commoner in the Creative Arts was established, during which time we have hosted many gifted artists who have gone on to distinguished careers. We have every confidence that Tristram will continue this tradition and look forward to welcoming him to the College.

Trinity has two posts for Fellow Commoners in the Creative Arts, one for writers and one for artists working in any art form. Mr Fane Saunders will follow the poet Mona Arshi in her post and a further announcement will be made in due course about the second appointment. Both artists will begin in October 2024 for two years

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