John Mole Biography

British poet, born in Taunton, Somerset, educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Since 1964 he has worked as a schoolteacher and is well-known as a presenter of poetry broadcasts for BBC radio. With Peter Scupham, he is co-editor of the Mandeville Press, which has produced numerous limited editions of his verse. His collections of poetry include The Love Horse (1974), From the House Opposite (1979), Feeding the Lake (1981), Homing (1987), and Depending on the Light (1993). The fluent accessibility and energetic wit of much of Mole's verse, which recurrently deals with the theme of childhood, make it unusual in its appeal to both adult readers and a younger audience; D. W. Hartnett remarked that ‘In his best work poet and child participate in a dance of disquieting complicity.’ Once There Were Dragons (1979) and Boo to a Goose (1987) are among his collections of verse for children. His later work shows increasing scope in its confrontations with problematic aspects of human behaviour and its imaginative engagement with social and political concerns.