Bill Griffiths (poet)

In addition to Cobbing and other Writers Forum poets, Griffiths listed his early influences as Michael McClure, Muriel Rukeyser, John Keats, George Crabbe, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Old English poetry.

He became a highly active assistant editor to Lancaster's Northern Review, a Journal of Regional and Cultural Affairs, which lasted ten years.

Published by the Centre for Northern Studies, these ran to several editions before culminating in A Dictionary of North East Dialect by Northumbria University Press in 2004.

[citation needed] Griffiths was able to draw upon his vast scholarship of Saxon literature and Old English, providing sophisticated etymologies that drew upon sources as far back as the eighth century.

A highly skilled archivist and talented classical musician,[citation needed] Griffiths was considered the ideal person to do this work which was completed ahead of schedule.