Harrison was born in 1937 in Leeds and educated at Leeds Grammar School. He studied classics and linguistics at the University of Leeds. For some years he has lived in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Much of his poetry is based on memories of his working-class childhood. He is skilled at adapting colloquial speech. His best known collections are The Loiners (1970) and The School of Eloquence.
Tony Harrison’s poetry explores themes that relate to post-war life, including social mobility through education and the disruption that resulted between the generations.
His best-known work is the long poem V. (1985), written during the miners' strike of 1984-85, and describing a trip to see his parents' grave in a Leeds cemetery. A proposal to screen a filmed version of V. by Channel 4 in 1987 was opposed by the press, MPs and some journalists, because of what was deemed ‘obscene’ language. The broadcast went ahead, and the furore settled quickly.
His adaption, The Mysteries, of the English Medieval Mystery plays, based on the York and Wakefield Mystery cycles, were first performed at the Royal National Theatre in 1985.
In 1998, he wrote and directed a film, Prometheus, based on his poem of the same name, His translation of Hecuba (2005), which emphasised the relevance of Euripides' drama to the Iraq War, was poorly received.
His play ‘Fram’ was staged in 2008 in London.
