My friend Richard Meier, who has died aged 55 of lung cancer, wrote poetry that reveals the extraordinary in the commonplace. He won the 2010 inaugural Picador poetry prize, leading to his first collection, Misadventure, being published in 2012. This was shortlisted for the Fenton Aldeburgh prize, and he went on to publish two further collections. He also worked in mental health policy, where he highlighted the adverse consequences of the NHS outsourcing care to the independent sector.
His poems distil everyday observations with great beauty and precision. In Muscle Memory, Richard saw the world reveal itself to his young son, Wilf, through the flight of a Frisbee thrown on a beach. In the 12-week scan of his daughter, Matilda, he saw in her fingertips “ten of the tiniest bulbs, on”.
Born in Bookham, Surrey, to Maureen (nee Parks), a secretary, and Robert Meier, a bank manager, Richard attended St John’s school in Leatherhead, where he excelled academically and musically, particularly on the piano. He joined the sixth form as a boarder at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester in 1986, making many lifelong friends, including me, and stayed on in the city to study music at the university.
Following graduation in 1991, Richard spent a year in Paris teaching and playing the piano. It was during this time that his interest in poetry started to grow, as a member of a vibrant poetry circle at the bookshop Shakespeare and Company.
Back in London, he worked on policy at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, where he led research into the outsourcing of in-patient care for people with complex mental health problems to the independent sector. He then coordinated a project commissioned by the Department of Health developing a toolkit for NHS trusts to reverse this trend, which is now incorporated into a national programme run by NHS England.
He also contributed to government legislation on sex and relationships for schools in subsequent policy posts with the charities Young Minds and Tavistock Relationships.
Leaving Tavistock in 2024, Richard taught adults English as a second language, near where he lived in Finchley, north London, a role he found immensely fulfilling. Outside work, he was a talented sportsman and loyal member of the Bohemians Cricket Club.
Richard strove throughout his life to hone his craft as a poet. His second collection, Search Party, was published in 2019, and a third, After the Miracle, was released shortly before his death.
The clarity of thought seen in his poetry was evident in so many aspects of Richard’s life – in his work shaping policy, as a teacher, and in the wry sense of humour he shared as a loyal and generous friend to many.
In 2006, Richard met Verity Smith. They married in 2008, and later separated. His children with Verity, Matilda and Wilf, and his brother, Jonathan, survive him.
