Beginner's Luck

When she died, in 2009, Anthony Thwaite described U.A. Fanthorpe as a ''smiling subversive with a voice like bird-song''. An encouraging example to all late developers, this particular bird''s voice took its time: she didn''t become a poet until she was 45. But these examples of her very earliest work show the latent mastery and the rapid development of the craft that would bring her wide critical...