A doctor and poet

Abstract

Dannie Abse is a poet and doctor. He was born into a Welsh-Jewish family in Cardiff in 1923. He studied medicine at Cardiff University College, King’s College, London, and Westminster Hospital. His first book of poetry was published while he was still a medical student. Over the years he has received many awards for his poetry, plays, and fiction. He was in the Royal Air Force from 1951-54 and he was a specialist in charge of the chest clinic at the Central Medical Establishment, London. He continued his employment there as a civilian until 1989. He married Joan Mercer, the art historian, in 1951 and has two daughters and a son. His wife died in a car crash in 2005. His book, The Presence , which won the Wales Book of the Year Award 2008, commemorates their life together. Since then he has been the recipient of a Wilfred Owen Award and a CBE. His most …