Photo by Tony Whittle
Alan C. Brown was born on the 23rd of November 1922 in Newcastle upon Tyne.
He served in the R.A.F. from 1940-1948, after which I trained as a teacher and taught in several different types of school until his retirement.
He was then free to focus on writing and on translating poems from the Russian and other European languages, putting a selection of poems by Maya Borisova and Galina Gamper into an English translation and having these published.
Alan pioneered the Tyneside Poets group who wrote, read, performed their work at home and abroad in Russia, Germany, Sweden, Bulgaria and elsewhere and welcomed visiting poets from these countries over to Newcastle to give public readings for many years.
His own poems were extensively published in small magazines and books over recent years.
He was married to Sheila, an artist and violinist, and leaves two daughters, Dorothy and Helen.
As Chair of the Tyneside Poets group, he held a fortnightly Writers’ Workshop at the Old George Pub in Cloth Market, Newcastle where members learned about European and World Literature.
Alan’s main interests were history, philosophy, politics and religion.
He published many poetry books over the years including:
THE SECRET RIVER, THE RAG DOLL PEOPLE, VERITAS, MIRRORS OF LIGHT, WATERED GARDEN, REEDS AND REFLECTIONS, ADJUSTMENTS, THE ANGRY DUST, REALITY SANDWICH, WATER AND SHADOW and BLETHORSKITES (poems in Geordie dialect).
He also compiled two anthologies: GOLDEN GIRL (a celebration in poetry of Newcastle uopn Tyne) and ST. MARY’S LIGHTHOUSE.
