Isobel Dixon

Isobel Dixon (born 1969) is a South African poet. She is also a literary agent based in London. Quotes I love nature writing of all kinds and it’s intriguing to see the animal world represented through the ages, from Aesop to Bishop. I look forward to exploring some of these on my ‘Twilight of the Iguana’ Summer School Workshop on Friday 25 July – the title is a reference to the opening line of Pablo Neruda’s ‘Some Beasts’ and we’ll be looking at Ted Hughes and Mark Doty and more, but most of all finding some time and space and inspiration for participants to tackle new work. The natural world is a continuing obsession in my work. My last collection The Tempest Prognosticator is teeming with creatures from life and art – from the energetic toktokkie beetle to Damien Hirst’s pickled shark, from Henri Rousseau’s ‘Merry Jester’ apes in their lush jungle, to the poor confused whale that swam up the Thames. I’m currently working with the artist Doug Robertson on a project in which we both respond to D H Lawrence’s Birds, Beasts and Flowers, so snakes, bats, tortoises et al remain much on my mind. Ha, travel breaks the bank/back (I dream of being a lighter traveller)? Broadens the hips (if you love Rome and its culinary delights, for instance)? Actually, I’d love a little more of the mind-broadening that goes with sitting quietly at home at my desk. I travel a lot though, for work and pleasure, and it does get the mind buzzing. Lots of useful notes for later work. I have a poem sequence on the simmer called ‘Travel Snap Quartets’ – we’ll see where that goes. External links Category:Living people