February 7, 1941

Kevin Crossley-Holland, (February 7, 1941) is a poet, and editor and children's author. His father was a professor and his first wife, Caroline Fendall, was the daughter of Prof. L. M. Thompson. That marriage, in 1962, resulted in two sons. He married three more times. Crossley-Holland graduated with an Oxford degree. Here is the cover of one of his books.

The Fox and the Cat, 1985.






His career includes posts as:

An editor (fiction and poetry), at Macmillan., 1962–69;
Gregory Fellow in Poetry, Univ. of Leeds, 1969–71;
Talks Producer, BBC, 1972;
Editorial Director, Victor Gollancz, 1972–77;
Visiting Professor of English and Fulbright Scholar, St Olaf Coll., Minnesota, 1987–90; 

Professor, and Endowed Chair in Humanities and Fine Arts, Univ. of St Thomas, Minnesota, 1991–95;
Visiting Lecturer for the British Council in Germany, Iceland, India, Malawi, Yugoslavia, Slovakia.
He was a Patron of the Thomas Lovell Beddoes Society, 1999–2011;

A sampling of his publications follows:

Poetry books: 

The Rain-Giver, 1972;
Waterslain, 1986;
Poems from East Anglia, 1997;

Other books, including his translations:
Storm and Other Old English Riddles, 1970;
Beowulf, 1982; 

(with Gwyn Thomas) The Mabinogion, 1984; 

Axe-Age, Wolf-Age, 1985;   

Small Tooth Dog, 1988; 

The Exeter Book Riddles, 1978; 

The Illustrated Beowulf, 1987; 

The Anglo-Saxon Elegies, 1988; 

He edited (I hope I sorted these titles correctly):

The Faber Book of Northern Legends, 1977; 

The Anglo-Saxon World, 1982; 

The Riddle Book, 1982;

The Oxford Book of Travel Verse, 1986; 

Northern Lights, 1987; 

Medieval Lovers, 1988; 

Medieval Gardens, 1990; 

My listing is erratic and does not give a good sense of how prolific Crossley-Holland is. We should mention his memoir: The Hidden Roads, 2009

Kevin Crossley-Holland was born in Mursley, Buckinghamshire, England.  Mursley is recorded in the Domesday Book and is related to the deep passion for East Anglia and its neighbors, which informs this writer.