Gun

About the Author

Thom Gunn, a British-born poet who spent much of his career in the United States, is renowned for his incisive explorations of urban life, sexuality, and the human condition. Born in 1929 in Gravesend, Kent, Gunn moved to California in the 1950s, where he taught at UC Berkeley and immersed himself in the countercultural milieu of San Francisco. His work deftly blends classical rigor with modernist experimentation, often drawing from personal experiences including the AIDS crisis that profoundly shaped his later poetry. Gunn's unflinching honesty and rhythmic precision earned him accolades such as the MacArthur Fellowship and a place among the most influential poets of the 20th century. He passed away in 2004, leaving a legacy of verse that confronts mortality with both tenderness and defiance.