Poets' Corner

This article is about the section of Westminster Abbey. For the neighborhood of Berkeley, California, see List of Berkeley neighborhoods.

Poets' Corner
Memorials in Poets' Corner
Map
Details
Established1400
Location
Westminster Abbey
CountryLondon, England
Coordinates51°29′57″N 0°7′38.50″W / 51.49917°N 0.1273611°W / 51.49917; -0.1273611

Poets' Corner is a section of the southern transept of Westminster Abbey in London, where many poets, playwrights, and writers are buried or commemorated.

The first poet interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400.[1] William Shakespeare was commemorated with a monument in 1740, over a century after his death. Over the centuries, a tradition has grown up of interring or memorialising people there in recognition of their contribution to British culture. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the honour is awarded to writers.

In 2009, the founders of the Royal Ballet were commemorated in a memorial floor stone and on 25 September 2010, the writer Elizabeth Gaskell was celebrated with the dedication of a panel in the memorial window.[2] On 6 December 2011, former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes was commemorated with a floor stone.[3] On 22 November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, writer C. S. Lewis was commemorated with a memorial floor stone.[4] The poet Philip Larkin was commemorated with a floor stone dedicated on 2 December 2016.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ Harold Bloom (2009). "Geoffrey Chaucer". p. 13. Infobase Publishing
  2. ^ "Elizabeth Gaskell". Westminster-abbey.org (25 September 2010). Retrieved on 21 October 2011.
  3. ^ Ted Hughes takes his place in Poets' Corner, BBC News, 6 December 2011
  4. ^ "CS Lewis honoured with Poets' Corner memorial". BBC News. Retrieved 23 November 2012
  5. ^ "Westminster Abbey honour for poet Philip Larkin". Westminster Abbey. June 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ^ Sawyer, Patrick (26 November 2016). "'Outsider' Larkin finally joins the Establishment in Poets' Corner". The Daily Telegraph.
  7. ^ "Westminster Poets' Corner memorial for Philip Larkin". BBC News. BBC. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.