Dannie Abse

Dannie Abse is a welsh poet. He was born in Cardiff.  Abse first studied medicine at the University of Wales College of Medicine, and then at Westminster Hospital Medicine School and King's College London. Although known for his poetry, Abse also worked in the medical field for over thirty years specialising at a chest clinic. He has received numerous literary awards over the years. In 1989, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Wales. His first ever poetry collection After Every Green Thing was published in 1949. Abse has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature since 1983. Abse lives in north west London in Hampstead. In 2005, his wife Joan Abse was killed in a car accident, while Abse suffered a broken rib. His poetry collection, Running Late, was published in 2006, and The Presence, a memoir of the year after his wife died, was published in 2007; it won the 2008 Wales book of the year award. The book was later dramatised for BBC Radio 4. He was awarded the Roland Mathias prize for Running Late. Abse still lives and is age 91.