[3] He served in the Royal Air Force from 1956 to 1958 before studying English as an exhibitioner at Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating in 1961.
During this period, he became acquainted with many of the poets who constituted the Cambridge group, a key element of the Revival.
[1] That same year, he set up the Grosseteste Press with his friend Tim Longville.
[5][6] Riley was influenced by Charles Olson and Osip Mandelstam, whose poetry he translated into English.
The latter includes the first full printing of his major long poem, Czargrad, a work that reflected his religious outlook and preoccupation with Russian and Byzantine culture.