He was son of a farm labourer, and he had an itinerant childhood. He attended Leeds University and studied with Geoffrey Hill, with fellow students Tony Harrison and Jon Silkin.

With Jon Silkin, he later co-edited Stand magazine, from 1963 to 1972.

He left for America, teaching at Slippery Rock State College, College of the Holy Cross, and Clark University.

He returned to England in 1973, teaching at Leeds University as a Yorkshire arts fellow from 1976 to 1978.

He married married Annie Minnis in 1960; they had one son and two daughters, but the marriage dissolved. In 1981, he married the poet and artist Judi Benson; they had one stepson.

Poetry

• The Pity, Jonathan Cape 1967.

Editor