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Thom Gunn

(1929-2004), Poet and university teacher

Thomson William ('Thom') Gunn

Sitter in 8 portraits
Thom Gunn was born in Kent and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before moving to America in 1954. He wrote his first collection of poems Fighting Terms (1954) whilst still a student, for which he gained the reputation as a 'movement poet'. From 1960 onwards, Gunn lived in San Francisco and lectured at the University of California at Berkeley. His third book, My Sad Captains (1961) addresses the contrast between Englishness and Americanness. Other volumes include Touch (1967), To the Air (1974) and The Passages of Joy (1982). Collected Poems and Shelf Life were published in 1983 and Boss Cupid in 2000.

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Thom Gunn

by Rollie McKenna
bromide print, 1957
NPG P1671

Thom Gunn

by Don Bachardy
pencil, ink and wash, 1996
NPG 6384

Thom Gunn

by Antony Barrington Brown
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1954
NPG x135410

Thom Gunn

by Layle Silbert
bromide print, 1972
NPG x16942

Thom Gunn

by Lynn Saville
bromide print, 1994
NPG x139986

Thom Gunn

by Arthur Tress
bromide fibre print, April 1995
NPG x132286

Thom Gunn

by Arthur Tress
bromide fibre print, April 1995
NPG x125658

Thom Gunn

by Fergus Greer
bromide fibre print, June 2000
NPG x126740

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Fergus Greer: Photographer in Focus

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Thom Gunn

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