Collaborations with composers

The following article is reprinted from Kevin’s New Leaves on an Old Tree (Propolis Books, 2023) which is a collection of essays, articles, lectures and reviews. The collection focuses on the various facets of story and storytelling which have been at the heart of all Kevin’s literary achievements: his poetry; his many translations from Old English; his retellings of British folk tales, Anglo-Saxon riddles and Norse myths; and his fiction – in particular his Arthur novels, and his prize-winning novella Storm. This article, however, is Kevin’s recollections of his many collaborators with composers and musicians and his long and distinguished career as a lyricist and librettist, beginning with the setting of some of his translations of Anglo-Saxon riddles by Sir Arthur Bliss when Kevin had just graduated from university and concluding with his most recent collaboration with Cecilia McDowall.