After Dinner Speakers: Andrew Motion, Sally Meen, Patrick Moore

Andrew Motion was born in London and educated at Oxford University, where he won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry. After leaving Oxford Motion became a lecturer at Hull University, publishing his first collection of poetry in 1977. At Hull he met the poet Philip Larkin whom he came to regard as 'possibly the finest expository lyrical poet'. Motion won a Whitbread Award for A Writer's Life, his biography of Larkin, in 1994. After leaving Hull, Motion became editor of Poetry Review and poetry editor with the publishers Chatto & Windus. In 1982, he co-edited The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry with Blake Morrison. In 1995, he succeeded Malcolm Bradbury as professor of creative writing at the University of East Anglia, and was appointed Poet Laureate in 1998. Perhaps the most literate of speakers, Andrew is a wonderful choice for any event.