SOURCE: “A Bleeding Poet,” in Economist, Vol. 326, No. 7795, January 23, 1993, p. 83.

[In the following review, the critic praises Harrison as “one of today's most unusual writing talents.”]

For the first time in almost a decade, an English poet stands a good chance of winning the Whitbread prize, the literary award that ranks second only to the Booker in popular esteem in Britain. Unlike the Booker shortlist, which is confined to novelists, the Whitbread shortlist takes in writers of different categories of books—first novel, children's book, biography and so on.

The poet is Tony Harrison, and if he wins on January 26th it will represent deserved public acclaim for one of today's most unusual writing talents. Much of his poetry is written not for the printed page but for the theatre and television. And he is a writer who concentrates on public themes. One example is the dehumanising effects...