Matthew Mead (1924–2009) was born in Slapton, Buckinghamshire. He served in the British army from 1942 to 1947, including three years in India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Singapore. He edited the poetry magazine Satis. From 1962 he lived in Germany and, with his wife Ruth, translated many German poets, including Johannes Bobrowski, Heinz Winfried Sabais and Nelly Sachs. His first collection Identities was published in 1967 and a selection of his poems appeared in Penguin Modern Poets 16 in 1970. The Autumn-Born in Autumn (2008) is Matthew Mead’s own selection from his poetry.