Carol Rumens

Carol Rumens FRSL (born Carol-Ann Lumley; 10 December 1944 – 25 April 2026) was a British poet.

Life and career Carol Rumens was born Carol-Ann Lumley in Forest Hill, South London, in 1944. She won a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School and later studied Philosophy at London University, but left before completing her degree. She married David Rumens in 1965 (divorced 1985) and was mother to two daughters. She gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Writing for the Stage (with Distinction) from City College Manchester in 2002.

She taught at University of Kent at Canterbury (1983–85), Queen's University Belfast (1991–93 and 1995–98), University College Cork (1994), Stockholm University (1999), and University of Hull. As visiting Professor of Creative Writing, she has taught at the University of Wales, Bangor, and at the University of Hull.

Rumens was Poetry Editor for the publisher Quarto (1982–84) and the literary Review (1984–88). Her work has appeared in The Guardian(for whom she wrote the "Poem of the Week" column from 2007 until her death) and Harper's. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1984. She also edited the poems of Elizabeth Bartlett and wrote Bartlett's obituary for The Guardian in 2008.

Rumens died from a brain tumour on 25 April 2026, aged 81.

Awards 1981: New Statesman Prudence Farmer Award, for An Easter Garland 1984: Alice Hunt Bartlett Award (joint winner), for Unplayed Music 1984: [Cholmondeley Award] 1998: Belfast Arts Award for Literature (shortlist), for Holding Pattern 1998: Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) (shortlisted for "A Day in the Life of Farmer Dream") 2001: Cardiff International Poetry Competition (Fourth Prize, for "Kings of the Playground") 2001: National Poetry Competition ("Stay in Touch") 2002: Forward Poetry Prize (Best Single Poem) (shortlist)

Works

Poetry

A Necklace of Mirrors Ulsterman, 1978

Icon Waves The Star Wheel Press, 1986

The Émigrée

Novels

Editor

Slipping Glimpses: Winter Poetry Supplement (editor), Poetry Book Society, 1985

Two Women Dancing: New and Selected Poems of Elizabeth Bartlett (editor), Bloodaxe, 1995 Old City, New Rumours: A Hull Anthology (editor Five Leaves Press, 2010

Plays Nearly Siberia (Pascal Theatre Company, Newcastle and London, 1989) The Freak of the Week Show (EyeSpy Theatre Company, East Didsbury Studio, Manchester, 2001) Suzanne Hecabe (Arden School of Theatre, Manchester, 2002).

Translations Pencil Letter /Irina Ratushinskaya (translator), Bloodaxe, 1988

After Pushkin (contributor), Carcanet, 2000 with Yuri Drobyshev Yevgenii Rein: Selected Poems (translator), Bloodaxe, 2001

Non-fiction Self into Song: Newcastle/Bloodaxe Poetry Lectures, Bloodaxe, 2006