Former Poet Laureate accused of plundering historian's work for his new poem
Sir Andrew Motion has been accused of shamelessly 'ripping off' a military historian's book for his Remembrance Sunday poem.
The poem, An Equal Voice, was published as a tribute to war veterans and described as a 'found' poem rather than an original work.
The former poet laureate said he had 'stitched together' the words of several generations of shellshocked soldiers from the First World War to the present day.
'It's a poem by them, orchestrated by me,' he said in his introduction to the work.
But he was accused of plagiarism and 'shameless burglary' by military historian Ben Shephard.
Mr Shephard said most of the Motion poem was copied from his own book, A War Of Nerves, about the history of medical psychiatry.
Mr Shephard, who also produced the World At War television series, complained that Sir Andrew had simply extracted 'sexy soundbites' from his book...
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The poem, An Equal Voice, was published as a tribute to war veterans and described as a 'found' poem rather than an original work.
The former poet laureate said he had 'stitched together' the words of several generations of shellshocked soldiers from the First World War to the present day.
'It's a poem by them, orchestrated by me,' he said in his introduction to the work.
But he was accused of plagiarism and 'shameless burglary' by military historian Ben Shephard.
Mr Shephard said most of the Motion poem was copied from his own book, A War Of Nerves, about the history of medical psychiatry.
Mr Shephard, who also produced the World At War television series, complained that Sir Andrew had simply extracted 'sexy soundbites' from his book...