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Michael Rosen

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For other people named Michael Rosen, see Michael Rosen (disambiguation).

Michael Rosen
Rosen at the 2019 BETT & Education Show
Rosen at the 2019 BETT & Education Show
Born (1946-05-07) 7 May 1946 (age 75)
Harrow, Middlesex, England
OccupationWriter
Period1974–present
GenreChildren's literature
Children's poetry
Spouse
Elizabeth Steele
​
​
(m. 1976; div. 1987)​
Geraldine Clark
​
​
(m. 1987; div. 1997)​
  • Emma-Louise Williams
Children5 (1 deceased)
RelativesHarold Rosen (father)
Website
michaelrosen.co.uk

Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author and poet who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009, and has also been a television presenter and political columnist.

Early life[]

Michael Wayne Rosen[1] was born into a Jewish family in Harrow, Middlesex,[2] on 7 May 1946.[3] His ancestors were Jews from an area that is now Poland, Romania, and Russia,[2] and his family had connections to The Workers Circle and the Jewish Labour Bund.[4] His middle name was given to him in honour of Wayne C. Booth, a literary critic who was billeted with his father at Shrivenham American University.[1]

Rosen's father, educationalist Harold Rosen (1919–2008), was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, but grew up in the East End of London from the age of two after his mother left his father and returned to her native England.[5] Harold attended Davenant Foundation School and then Regent Street Polytechnic.[4] He was a secondary school teacher before becoming a professor of English at the Institute of Education in London and publishing extensively, especially on the teaching of English to children.[6]

Rosen's mother, Connie (née Isakofsky; 1920–1976), worked as a secretary at the Daily Worker and later as a primary school teacher and training college lecturer. She had attended Central Foundation Girls' School, where she made friends such as Bertha Sokoloff. She met Harold in 1935, when both were aged 15, as they were both members of the Young Communist League. They participated in the Battle of Cable Street together. As a young couple, they settled in Pinner, Middlesex. They left the Communist Party in 1957. Rosen never joined, but his parents' activities influenced his childhood. For example, their acquaintance with the bohemian literary figure Beatrice Hastings made an impression on him as a child.[4][7]

At around the age of 11, Rosen began attending Harrow Weald County Grammar School.[3] He attended state schools in Pinner and Harrow, as well as Watford Grammar School for Boys.[2] Having discovered Jonathan Miller, he thought, "Wouldn't it be wonderful to know all about science, and know all about art, and be funny and urbane and all that?"[8] His mother was then working for the BBC. Producing a programme featuring poetry, she persuaded him to write for it and used some of his material.[9] He later said, "I went to Middlesex Hospital Medical School, started on the first part of a medical training, jacked it in and went on to do a degree in English at Oxford University. I then worked for the BBC until they chucked me out and I have been a freelance writer, broadcaster, lecturer, performer ever since—that's to say since 1972. Most of my books have been for children, but that's not how I started out. Sometime around the age of twelve and thirteen I began to get a sense that I liked writing, liked trying out different kinds of writing, I tried writing satirical poems about people I knew."[2]

Career[]

Rosen giving a poetry reading at the London ESF
Rosen in 2009
Rosen recording his poem "The Listening Lions" in 2014
Rosen at an anti-racism rally in London in 2016
Rosen in December 2017

In 1969, Rosen graduated from Wadham College, Oxford, and became a graduate trainee at the BBC. Among the work that he did while there in the 1970s was presenting a series on BBC Schools television called Walrus (write and learn, read, understand, speak). He was also scriptwriter on the children's reading series Sam on Boffs' Island, but Rosen found working for the corporation frustrating: "Their view of 'educational' was narrow. The machine had decided this was the direction to take. Your own creativity was down the spout."[10]

Despite previously having made no secret of his leftist views when he was originally interviewed for a BBC post, he was asked to go freelance in 1972, though in practice he was sacked despite several departments of the BBC wishing to keep employing him. In common with the China expert and journalist Isabel Hilton, among several others at this time, Rosen had failed the vetting procedures which were then in operation. This longstanding practice was only revealed in 1985, and by the time Rosen requested access to his files, they had been destroyed.[11]

In 1974, Mind Your Own Business, his first book of poetry for children, was published. In due course, Rosen established himself with his collections of humorous verse for children, including Wouldn't You Like to Know, You Tell Me and Quick Let's Get Out of Here. Educationalist Morag Styles has described Rosen as "one of the most significant figures in contemporary children's poetry" and one of the first poets "to draw closely on his own childhood experiences and to 'tell it as it was' in the ordinary language children actually use".[10]

Rosen played a key role in opening up children's access to poetry, both through his own writing and with important anthologies such as Culture Shock. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and further afield in Australia, Canada and Singapore.[10] His tours continue to enthuse and engage school children about poetry in the present.[12]

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a children's picture book written by Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. The book won the overall Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 1989 and also won the 0–5 years category.[13] The publisher, Walker Books, celebrated the work's 25th anniversary in 2014 by breaking a Guinness World Record for the Largest Reading Lesson.[14]

In 1993, Rosen gained an MA in Children's Literature from the University of Reading and subsequently gained a PhD from the University of North London.[15][16] Margaret Meek Spencer supervised his work and continued to support him throughout her life.[17]

Rosen is well established as a broadcaster, presenting a range of documentary features on British radio. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4's regular magazine programme Word of Mouth, which looks at the English language and the way it is used.[18]

The English Association gave Michael Rosen's Sad Book (2004) an Exceptional Award for the Best Children's Illustrated Books of its year in the 4–11 age range. The book was written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It deals in part with bereavement and followed the publication of Carrying the Elephant: A Memoir of Love and Loss, which was published in November 2002 after the death of his son Eddie (aged 18), who features as a child in much of his earlier poetry.[19] Rosen's This Is Not My Nose: A Memoir of Illness and Recovery (2004) is an account of his ten years with undiagnosed hypothyroidism; a course of drugs in 1981 alleviated the condition.[10]

In 2011, he collaborated with his wife, Emma-Louise Williams, to produce the film Under the Cranes,[20] with Rosen providing the original screenplay (a play for voices called Hackney Streets), which Williams took as a basis with which to direct the film. It premiered at the Rio Cinema in Dalston, London, on 30 April 2011 as part of the East End Film Festival.[21]

Rosen has previously taught children's literature on the MA in education studies at the University of North London and its successor institution, London Metropolitan University.[15][22] He was formerly a visiting professor of children's literature at Birkbeck, University of London,[23] where he taught children's literature and devised an MA in children's literature, which commenced in October 2010. Since September 2014, he has been at Goldsmiths, University of London, as professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies, teaching an MA in children's literature.[24]

He is also a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables schoolchildren across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres.[25]

Rosen was the subject of the BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme on 6 August 2006.[26]

In March 2021, Rosen released the book Many Different Kinds of Love: A Story of Life, Death and the NHS, an account of his experience being hospitalised with COVID-19 a year earlier,[27] including his own poem for the NHS 60th anniversary 'These are the Hands'[28] being pinned to his bed or wall. A memorial poem by Mary Henderson for Dr. Elsie Inglis more than a century earlier also had the theme of a doctor's hands.[29]

Politics[]

Jeremy Corbyn[]

In August 2015, Rosen endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign in the Labour Party election.[30] He contributed to Poets for Corbyn, an anthology of poems from 20 writers.[31][32] In the same month, he was one of many Jewish public figures who signed an open letter criticising The Jewish Chronicle's reporting of Corbyn's association with alleged antisemites.[33] In 2016, along with others, he toured the UK to support Corbyn's bid to become Prime Minister.[34][35]

In November 2019, along with other Jewish public figures, Rosen signed an open letter supporting Corbyn, describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsing him in the 2019 UK general election.[36] In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, he signed an open letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few".[37][38]

Palestine[]

Rosen has been involved in campaigning around issues of education and for the Palestinian cause. In August 2010, he contributed to an e-book collection of political poems entitled Emergency Verse – Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State, edited by Alan Morrison.[39]

Other[]

Rosen stood for election in June 2004 in London as a Respect Coalition candidate.[9] He is a supporter of the Republic campaign.[40] He has written columns for the Socialist Worker[41] and spoken at conferences organised by the Socialist Workers Party. [42]

Awards and honours[]

Rosen was appointed the sixth British Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held the honour until June 2009, when he was succeeded by Anthony Browne.[43][44][45] Rosen signed off from the Laureateship with an article in The Guardian,[46] in which he said, "Sometimes when I sit with children when they have the space to talk and write about things, I have the feeling that I am privileged to be the kind of person who is asked to be part of it". In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Exeter.[47]

In January 2008, Rosen was presented with an honorary doctorate by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and the University of East London.[48] In November 2008, he was presented with an honorary master's degree at the University of Worcester[49] and the Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) at the French ambassador's residence in London.[50][51]

In April 2010, Rosen was given the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award from the National Union of Teachers for "campaigning for education".[52] In July 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Nottingham Trent University.[53]

In April 2011, Rosen was awarded an honorary doctorate at the Institute of Education, University of London,[54] and in July 2011, an honorary doctorate by the University of the West of England.[55] Rosen was selected to be the guest director of the 2013 Brighton Festival.[56]

In 2021, Rosen received the annual J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award from the charity Action for Children's Arts, "in recognition of his tremendous work championing the arts for children as well as his achievements as a performer and author."[57]

Personal life[]

Rosen has been married three times and has five children and two step-children.[58] His second son Eddie (1980–1999) died at the age of 18 from meningococcal septicaemia, and his death was the inspiration for Rosen's 2004 work Sad Book.[19] Rosen lives in North London[59] with his third wife, Emma-Louise Williams, and their two children.[60][61]

In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosen was admitted to hospital with suspected COVID-19.[62] His wife had been told to keep him away from hospital if possible, but a doctor friend saw him and revealed that his blood oxygen level was dangerously low.[63] Having been taken to hospital, he was moved into the ICU on 29 March and then back to a ward, before being moved back into the ICU in early April. He left the ICU after 47 days.[64][65] He was moved to a geriatric ward at Whittington Hospital on May 22, and moved to St Pancras rehab hospital on June 2.[66][67][68] After returning home on 24 June,[69] he wrote a new book, Rigatoni the Pasta Cat, while recovering.[70] He later posted a video on his YouTube channel addressing concerns about his health,[71] and praised and thanked NHS staff who cared for him during his time in hospital.[72]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Armitstead, Claire (8 September 2017). "Michael Rosen: 'Realising that poetry was performance was my eureka moment'". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Michael Rosen interview". WriteWords Writers' Community. February 2004. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "About Michael Rosen". MichaelRosen.co.uk. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Rosen, Michael (23 May 2012). "Confessions of an accidental communist". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  5. ^ Rosen, Harold (5 August 2008). "Harold Rosen: A Rebel from the East End [interview]". Socialist Worker. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  6. ^ Richmond, John (4 August 2008). "Harold Rosen [obituary]". The Guardian. London.
  7. ^ "Harold Rosen: Writings on life, language and learning, 1958–2008", Advanced Information, IOE, UCL.
  8. ^ Bearn, Emily (16 November 2008), "A novel approach to the classroom", The Sunday Times
  9. ^ a b Steigel, Leslie; Bainbridge, Joyce (Fall 2004). "From Poetry to Politics: The Gifts and Talents of Michael Rosen". Language and Literacy (Reproduced on the University of Alberta Website). 6 (2). Archived from the original on 30 July 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  10. ^ a b c d Styles, Morag (July 1988). "Authorgraph No 51 – Michael Rosen". Books for Keeps: The Children's Book Magazine (51). Retrieved 21 August 2008.[dead link].
  11. ^ Hollingsworth, Mark; Norton-Taylor, Richard (1988), "MI5 and the BBC – Stamping the 'Christmas Tree' files [chap. 5]", Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting, London: Hogarth Press, p. 104, ISBN 0-7012-0811-2; Leigh, David; Lashmar, Paul (18 August 1985). "The Blacklist in Room 105". The Observer. p. 9.
  12. ^ See, for example, "Michael Rosen tour highlights". Scottish Book Trust. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  13. ^ Sprenger, Richard (10 April 2014). "We're Going on a Bear Hunt: 'The editors were so excited they were nearly weeping' – video". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Walker Books & The RNIB". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Chapter and verse: Michael Rosen on why it pays to study children's". Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  16. ^ "A Materialist and Intertextual Examination of the Process of Writing a Work of Children's Literature" (PDF). University of North London. October 1997. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021.
  17. ^ "Middlesex Lecture". Michael Rosen. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Word of Mouth". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  19. ^ a b Rabinovitch, Dina (24 November 2004). "Author of the month: Michael Rosen". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  20. ^ Under the Cranes (23 November 2012). "Under the Cranes". Underthecranes.blogspot.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  21. ^ "East London on film, East End Film Festival". BFI. May 2011. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  22. ^ Michaelrosen (22 June 2012). "Michael Rosen: Why universities close down courses: my experience". Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  23. ^ "Michael Rosen". Department of English and Humanities, School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  24. ^ "Award-winning children's author joins Goldsmiths". Goldsmiths. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  25. ^ "Shakespeare Schools Foundation Patrons". Shakespeare Schools Foundation. Shakespeare Schools Foundation. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  26. ^ "Desert Island Discs: Michael Rosen". BBC Radio 4. 6 August 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  27. ^ "Michael Rosen | 'I don't think I realised, until maybe August, how ill I'd been' | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com.
  28. ^ Rosen, Michael (2016). "These are the Hands by Michael Rosen". Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  29. ^ Henderson, Mary H J (19 December 1929). "Books that Should Please as Christmas Gifts - Notable Contributions to Northern Verse - 'Warp and Woof' by Mary H.J.Henderson"". Aberdeen Press and Journal. p. 9. From the poem 'Magdalene' "The hands indeed, which minister where there was need; The hands we loved, may not touch ours again, May not alleviate our mortal pain, They lie quiescent in the hands of God." line feed character in |quote= at position 27 (help)
  30. ^ Rosen, Michael (26 June 2015). "For Jeremy Corbyn". Michael Rosen's Blog. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  31. ^ Bennetts, Russell (2015). Poets for Corbyn (PDF). Pendant Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9928034-5-2.
  32. ^ Bennetts, Russell (25 August 2015). "Yes we scan: Poets line up for Jeremy Corbyn". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  33. ^ Dysch, Marcus (18 August 2015). "Anti-Israel activists attack JC for challenging Jeremy Corbyn". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  34. ^ "#JC4PM". jc4pmtour. 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  35. ^ Wilkinson, Michael (1 February 2016). "Celebrities to tour Britain in 'Jeremy Corbyn For Prime Minister' musical show". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  36. ^ Neale, Matthew (16 November 2019). "Exclusive: New letter supporting Jeremy Corbyn signed by Roger Waters, Robert Del Naja and more". NME. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  37. ^ "Vote for hope and a decent future". The Guardian. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  38. ^ Proctor, Kate (3 December 2019). "Coogan and Klein lead cultural figures backing Corbyn and Labour". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  39. ^ "Emergency Verse - The Recusant". www.therecusant.org.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  40. ^ "Our Supporters". Republic.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  41. ^ Rosen, Michael (27 October 2009). "Michael Rosen: 'Question Time has opened the door for the BNP'". Socialist Worker. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  42. ^ "Ideas to change the world. Marxism 2010". Socialist Workers Party. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  43. ^ "Michael Rosen". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  44. ^ "Rosen is chosen for laureate role". BBC News. BBC News Online. 11 June 2007.
  45. ^ Flood, Alison (9 June 2009). "Gorilla artist Anthony Browne becomes children's laureate". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  46. ^ Rosen, Michael (9 June 2007). "The ups and downs of a story: As he bows out as children's laureate today, Michael Rosen looks back on the warmth and enthusiasm of his young audiences ... and the blank looks of politicians". The Guardian. London.
  47. ^ "University News" (PDF). Exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  48. ^ "Children's Laureate Michael Rosen receives Honorary Doctorate of Letters". Uel.ac.uk. 22 January 2008. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  49. ^ "Michael Rosen talks about lone parenting, his new baby daughter – and the day his son died". Worcester News. Worcesternews.co.uk. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  50. ^ Rosen, Michael. "Latest news: November 18". Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  51. ^ "Michael Rosen's website". Michael Rosen. Archived from the original on 26 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  52. ^ "Michael Rosen is awarded the Fred & Anne Jarvis Award at NUT conference". NUT Annual Conference 2010 – Press Release. National Union of Teachers. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  53. ^ "Michael Rosen – NTU Honorary Graduate – 22nd July 2010". YouTube. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  54. ^ "Alumni Life – Institute of Education, University of London". Ioe.ac.uk. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  55. ^ "UWE Bristol: News". Info.uwe.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  56. ^ "Brighton festival 2013 takes off, with Michael Rosen at helm". The Guardian. 27 February 2013.
  57. ^ "Michael Rosen to win the 2021 J.M. Barrie Award". Action for Children’s Arts. 11 May 2021.
  58. ^ Jardine, Cassandra (21 June 2007), "As teenagers, my boys read football programmes ...", The Daily Telegraph; and biographical information provided by Michael Rosen on 19 December 2007.
  59. ^ Durrant, Sabine (6 September 2014). "Michael Rosen: Why curiosity is the key to life". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  60. ^ Kellaway, Kate (27 October 2002). "The children's poet who grew up: Michael Rosen talks about lone parenting, his new baby daughter – and the day his son died". The Observer. London. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  61. ^ "From here to paternity: Tales from the labour ward". The Independent. London. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2010.[dead link]
  62. ^ Flood, Alison (31 March 2020). "Michael Rosen 'very poorly but stable' after night in intensive care". The Guardian.
  63. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (30 September 2020). "Michael Rosen on his Covid-19 coma: 'It felt like a pre-death, a nothingness'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  64. ^ "Author Michael Rosen out of intensive care". BBC News. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  65. ^ Busby, Mattha (23 May 2020). "Author Michael Rosen out of intensive care after 47 days". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  66. ^ Rosen, Michael. "Michael Rosen Twitter". Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  67. ^ Busby, Mattha (6 June 2020). "Michael Rosen takes first steps as he recovers from Covid-19". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  68. ^ @MichaelRosenYes (11 June 2020). "Emma and family have been on the frontline in this, taking the strain, supporting, fielding the worry, chasing up on things. It's a huge load to bear and to keep going. They're number one" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  69. ^ Flood, Alison (24 June 2020). "Michael Rosen home from intensive care after coronavirus". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  70. ^ Flood, Alison (12 August 2020). "Michael Rosen completes new book after long battle with Covid-19". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. ...Michael Rosen has written a new book in the weeks since he left hospital, describing his return to creativity as akin to being wrapped in "a very friendly blanket"... [He] said he took just "a couple of days" to pen Rigatoni the Pasta Cat...
  71. ^ Rosen, Michael (13 September 2020). "I HAD COVID-19". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  72. ^ "Michael Rosen's emotional thank you to ICU nurse". BBC News.
Other sources
video on YouTube

Further reading[]

Articles[]

Book reviews[]

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Cultural offices
Preceded by Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
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