About Tony Harrison
Tony William Harrison was an English poet, translator and playwright. He was one of Britain's foremost verse writers and many of his works have been performed at the Royal National Theatre. He is noted for controversial works such as the poem "V", as well as his versions of dramatic works such as the tragedies Oresteia and Lysistrata from ancient Greek, Molière's The Misanthrope from French, and The Mysteries from Middle English. Harrison published his first book of poetry, The Loiners, in 1970; Loiner is an informal demonym, of unclear origin, for people from Leeds. The Bartered Bride, translation into English of the opera by Bedrich Smetana, first seen at the Metropolitan Opera on 25 October 1978 Yan Tan Tethera (libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera), (1986). In 2015, he was honoured with the David Cohen Prize in recognition of his body of work and in 2016, he was awarded the Premio Feronia in Rome.
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