British poet Thom Gunn dies at 74

The British-born poet Thom Gunn, considered to have written some of the best poetry of his time, has died at the age of 74.

Gunn, who published about 30 books, died at the home in San Francisco, California, on Sunday.

He was part of a group of British poets, known as The Movement, along with Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis.

Gunn was born in Kent, in 1929, and enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English. He moved to San Francisco in 1954.

Mike Kitay, Gunn's partner of 54 years, said he died in his sleep from a suspected heart attack.

Literary awards

Wendy Lesser, an author and editor of the literary journal The Threepenny Review, said: "I thought he was possibly the best living poet in English.

"Unlike most poets, he was equally at home in rhyme and non-rhyme, in free verse and patterned rhythms."

Robert Pinsky, a former U.S. poet laureate and professor at Boston University, said: "His poems attain a cool clarity, an ability to be morally discerning but not judgmental; amused but engaged."

Gunn was at a young age as one of post-war Britain's most promising young poets and published his first book, Fighting Terms, at 25.

He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1958 to 1966 and from 1973 to 1990.

In his lifetime, Gunn received many literary awards, including the prestigious David Cohen British Literature Prize last year and the Forward Prize in 1992.