Dale Gunthorp (Millard) (1941 – ) is a Portsmouth poet, writer, and all-round good egg. Her background is colonial: born in South Africa of New Zealander and Mauritian parents, she left the country when the apartheid Security Police ransacked her bedsit. London, an accidental destination, gave her a new life. Having discovered that she possessed zero talent for teaching, she worked for Socialist Commentary, the organ of Socialist Vanguard, the Institute of Race Relations and the Commonwealth Secretariat, where she edited the monthly magazine Commonwealth Currents, wrote booklets, manuals and leaflets, and drafted speeches. Co-founder of the poetry magazine Candelabrum, Gunthorp was also an enthusiastic participant in the LGBT scene - and wrote and wrote.

Two of Dale’s novels, Looking for Ammu (1992) and Georgiana’s Closet (2000), have been published by Virago. Her other works include many poems published in various magazines, a few short stories for anthologies, and one collection of sub-erotic stories, The Flying Hart (1991).

Dale and her partner, Julie, moved to Southsea in 2005, in search of a kinder environment for their two young daughters, and joined Tongues and Grooves poetry club. As well as making her an integral part of Portsmouth’s vibrant creative scene, this inspired Dale to produce and co-edit (with Maggie Sawkins and Denise Bennett, the first anthology of poems about Portsmouth, the wonderful This Island City. Tongues and Grooves provided focus and an outlet for Portsmouth’s strong poetry voice, but lacked the resonance of print. So, with encouragement from George Marsh, and with the inspired input of Jon Everitt’s elegant and quirky woodcuts, plus support from Portsmouth News, Portsmouth High School and Fry & Kent – Gunthorp, Sawkins, and Bennett went ahead with a print run of 2.500 copies: a big number for a book of poetry, but it sold well, and does a magnificent job of selling Portsmouth as a poetry-rich city. Its poems are widely represented on the Portsmouth Literary Map. Dale continues to write and to contribute to the city in many ways.

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