Joined-up writing? Jonathan Wooding discusses Basil Bunting

12 Jan 2023 | by Jonathan Wooding

‘He knew where he belonged.’

‘No poet wants to be labelled – they all want to break the mould – but Bunting acknowledged his roots.’

or my money, Basil Bunting (1900-1985) can legitimately be regarded as a representative Quaker figure. This pioneering poet was a student at Ackworth and Leighton Park schools, a conscientious objector, an enthusiastic attender at Meeting for Worship, and an all-round non-conformist. ‘Meditation in the Quaker Meeting House shaped his philosophy’, writes Richard Burton in his luminous biography A Strong Song Tows Us.

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