David Morphet went up to St John’s College Cambridge on a History Scholarship, but found himself drawn in a different direction, and took a Double First in English in 1961. He entered HM Diplomatic Service in the same year, remaining in the service until 1974. He subsequently served in the Department of Energy, 1974-89, becoming UK Governor at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1985-89. He worked in the private sector from 1989-2001.
David, who had become co-editor of the literary magazine Delta while at college, now sees himself primarily as a poet. He is the author of twelve volumes of poetry, and his verse has appeared in various magazines. From 2005-2009 he was on the Board of Magma Poetry, for which he has written reviews and articles; he also edited the Winter 2007-08 issue of Magma 39 (Winter 2007/08 issue). Six of the poems from his 2012 collection A Sequence from the Cyclades have been set to music for soprano and string quartet by the composer Adrian Rickard. His latest collection Homecoming by Microlight: Landscapes and Satires appeared in 2015.
In addition, he has edited a book on St John's College, Cambridge (St John’s College, Cambridge – Excellence and Diversity (Third Millennium, 2007) and has also written a book on the Victorian journalist Louis Jennings: Louis Jennings MP, Editor of the New York Times and Tory Democrat (hardback with dustsheet, London: Notion, 2001, 276 pp. Available at a discount for Victorian Web readers from Notion Books, 11 Daisy Lane, London SW6 3DD, for £10 + £2.30 [UK] p&p).
David is a member of the Athenaeum Club — which was founded by John Wilson Croker, whose voluminous papers Jennings edited to much acclaim.
Last modified 3 February 2016