Patron: Andrew Motion. Copyright Adrian Mealing

Andrew Motion was born in 1952.  His recent childhood autobiography IN THE BLOOD: A Memoir of my Childhood (Faber) shows he has happy memories of the Hertfordshire of his childhood.  
He read English at University College, Oxford; from 1980 to 1982 he edited the Poetry Review. He has recently been appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway Collge, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in London. Andrew Motion was appointed as Poet Laureate in May 1999.  Since becoming the UK's official royal poet, Motion has followed the primary function of his role by marking special state events with a poem. He has also been hard at work trying to give his role more general public relevance, writing verse to mark events and causes of more personal public concern, such as the Paddington rail disaster and the charity Childline.

.