Tessa Ransford | |
---|---|
Born | 8 July 1938 |
Died | 2 September 2015 |
Nationality | Scottish |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Known for | Founding director of the Scottish Poetry Library |
Notable work |
|
Teresa Mary ("Tessa") Ransford OBE (8 July 1938 – 2 September 2015) [1] was a poet, activist and the founding director of the Scottish Poetry Library.
Teresa Ransford was born in Mumbai, India on 8 July 1938. Her mother was Lady Torfrida Ransford and her father was Sir Alister Ransford, Master of the Mint of Mumbai. [2] The family moved back to the United Kingdom in 1944, [3] finally moving to Scotland in 1948 when her father took up the position of bursar at the Loretto School in Musselburgh. [2]
Ransford was educated and boarded at St Leonard’s School in St Andrews. She was not happy and turned to books and poetry for consolation. [4] She went on to study German and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. [1]
In 1959, she married Iain Kay Stiven, a minister of the Church of Scotland [1] [3] and the pair lived in Pakistan until 1968 with their four children. During the 1970s, Ransford started writing and publishing poems and founded the School of Poets in 1981 as a place for poets to gather on a monthly basis to support one another. [1]
Ransford produced over fifteen volumes of poetry during her lifetime. [5]
The Scottish Poetry Library had 300 books when she started it in 1984. By the time she died, it had over 30,000. [2]
She was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000 for services to the Scottish Poetry Library [6] and was President of Scottish PEN from 2003 to 2006. [1]
Ransford was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and died in Edinburgh on 2 September that year. [1]
Tessa Ransford | |
---|---|
Born | 8 July 1938 |
Died | 2 September 2015 |
Nationality | Scottish |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Known for | Founding director of the Scottish Poetry Library |
Notable work |
|
Teresa Mary ("Tessa") Ransford OBE (8 July 1938 – 2 September 2015) [1] was a poet, activist and the founding director of the Scottish Poetry Library.
Teresa Ransford was born in Mumbai, India on 8 July 1938. Her mother was Lady Torfrida Ransford and her father was Sir Alister Ransford, Master of the Mint of Mumbai. [2] The family moved back to the United Kingdom in 1944, [3] finally moving to Scotland in 1948 when her father took up the position of bursar at the Loretto School in Musselburgh. [2]
Ransford was educated and boarded at St Leonard’s School in St Andrews. She was not happy and turned to books and poetry for consolation. [4] She went on to study German and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. [1]
In 1959, she married Iain Kay Stiven, a minister of the Church of Scotland [1] [3] and the pair lived in Pakistan until 1968 with their four children. During the 1970s, Ransford started writing and publishing poems and founded the School of Poets in 1981 as a place for poets to gather on a monthly basis to support one another. [1]
Ransford produced over fifteen volumes of poetry during her lifetime. [5]
The Scottish Poetry Library had 300 books when she started it in 1984. By the time she died, it had over 30,000. [2]
She was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000 for services to the Scottish Poetry Library [6] and was President of Scottish PEN from 2003 to 2006. [1]
Ransford was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and died in Edinburgh on 2 September that year. [1]