City Poems by BH Fraser

Boisdale Telegraph - The modern way to murder a Haggis
(Published January/February 08)

Banker/poet Benjie Fraser, 46, the son of historian Lady Antonia Fraser, has written Fancy A Haggis? - a contemporary address to a haggis, in time for Burns Night. This saucy work, sponsored by Macallan Single Malt, begins: 'You flash thing/You master/Of the cooking bling/God, you'd be good in bed/Arms, legs, skin/Even the words unsaid/good luck then' ...and ends 'You can't hurry love/And you can't hurry a haggis/So now do you fancy me?/And can a night/Be spent together/Of all eternity?/Now eat and say your prayers'. Benjie's poem was launched during a whisky-drenched dinner at Boisdale, the Scottish restaurant in Belgravia.

Financial Times - The City is not short of creativity
(Published 24th August 07)

Sir, Howard Davies is correct in wondering where the authors of high finance are; there is certainly plenty to write about. My favourite is David Charters, author of At Bonus Time, No-one Can Hear You Scream and No Tears: Tales from the Square Mile, who has a style worthy of literary inspection. He also merits a wider audience and his books are rarely found in mainstream book shops. The City even has its own poet, B.H. Fraser (www.bhfraser.com) so we are not short of creativity.

From my own experience, aspiring writers are instructed by literary agents and publishers that City/finance-based fiction has narrow appeal and are told to focus on other areas that are more marketable.

By Sarah Dudney

A JOINT performance by Harold Pinter and Lady Antonia Fraser was the highlight of last night's poetry reading, organised by her son, banker and poet Benjie Fraser, at the Inner Temple.

The couple read from a dialogue written by Pinter, entitled Apart From That, in which two characters have an inane conversation on their mobile phones, never getting much further than "How are you?". Very Pinteresque.

"Harold hates mobiles and conversations on them like the one in the piece - it's typical of him then to turn around and manage to write about them," said Lady Antonia, for whom the performance was her stage debut.

The audience included Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, AS Byatt and Jonathan Aitken.

"I was very interested to hear Benjie's poem about setting the rates," said Aitken, a former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, "because I was one of the last people to help to do that."

The reading raised money for a charity founded in memory of Paddy Pakenham, Lord Longford's barrister son, who died in 2005.

International Custody and Fund Administration Online - Fraser Joins JPMorgan
(2 February 06)

JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services (WSS) has appointed Benjie Fraser as senior vice president and head of business development for European pension funds, a new position. Fraser previously worked for the Bank of New York, where he was head of European pensions. "We are very pleased to be joined by someone with Benjie's broad experience, particularly at this important time for the pensions industry," said Dick Feehan, WSS Securities Company sales executive in Europe, Middle East and Africa. In addition, Fraser noted, "JPMorgan's focus on servicing clients is a key part of this commitment to the pensions industry".

Global Custodian Review Online - JPMorgan hires Benjie Fraser as Senior VP for European Pension Funds
(28 February 06)

Fraser previously worked for Bank of New York, where he was head of European pensions. He has over 16 years of experience in the pensions industry and has spent more than 20 years in financial services.

Fraser said: "I am very excited about coming to work for a firm so comprehensively committed to pension funds. JPMorgan's focus on servicing clients is a key part of this commitment to the pensions industry."

Global Custodian Online - JPMorgan Names Benjie Fraser to Head Business Development for European Pension Funds
(27 February 06)

Leaving his post as head of European pensions for Bank of New York, Benjie Fraser will now fill a similar position at JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services as senior vice president and head of business development for European pension funds. Fraser has over 16 years of experience in the pensions industry and has spent more than 20 years in financial services. "We are very pleased to be joined by someone with Benjie's broad experience, particularly at this important time for the pensions industry," said Dick Feehan, JPMWSS sales executive in EMEA.

International Custody and Fund Administration Online - Fraser Joins JPMorgan
(2 February 06)

Evening Standard - Londoner's Diary / Pinter still going strong
(26 Sept 05)

Evening Standard - Londoner's Diary / Pinter sees stepson for a dose of city verse
(23 July 04)

By Paul Majendie
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Mammon may rule in the gleaming towers of London's financial district but, amid all the high finance, there beats a tender, poetic heart.
By day, Benjie Fraser is managing director in London of the Bank of New York's pensions business. By night he is B.H. Fraser, chronicler of capitalism.
From "A Good Sacking" to "Bonus Time," the British banker-poet has turned to verse to capture the soul of The City.
No subject is too esoteric -- from hedge funds to the Bank of England's supervisory role -- and Fraser said: "the City is a positive place to work but I do want to highlight things like greed and temptation."
"We are in the end people and The City is a mixture of fear and greed," he told Reuters on the eve of the first public reading in the Guildhall Old Library of his "City Poems" collection.
Inspiration often strikes when the 43-year-old banker is sitting on an aeroplane, jetting between business deals.
"I've time when travelling to make sense of my notes. I have a whole stack of poems, like cheese, which have just started, may never get tasted or are ready."
The pickpocket maestro Fagin may have told Oliver Twist: "In this life, one thing counts/In the bank, large amounts," but Fraser disagrees.
"Life is about more than that," he says.
Not for him the image of ruthless wheeler-dealer Gordon Gekko in the Oscar-winning movie "Wall Street" intoning his mantra "Greed is Good."
"I make sure in my poems that we recognise the importance of the individual in the workplace. It is important that people are valued in The City," said Fraser, who puts his poems up for all to see on his www.bhfraser.com website.

Poet - Benjie Fraser
Only a few world famous poets earnt their crust by working in an office. However the managing director of an international bank says literary inspiration can be found in the workplace.

A would-be-poet claims his nine-to-five job as a City banker is the main motivation for his colourful poetry. He maintains stocks and shares can be as inspirational as unrequited love or death-ridden angst. Managing director of NY Bank in London, Benjie Fraser, will be reading his poetry on Thursday 23 July at the Guildhall in London. To see an extract of Mr Fraser’s poetry, please see the bottom of the page.

Poetry is far from being a dying art. Although public speaking is less popular nowadays, it is still a weekly ritual at the famous Speakers Corner in Hyde Park. In addition, various poetry and creative writing groups meet regularly to discuss all kinds of poetry, with an increasing number of people attending the gatherings.

Poetry has greatly evolved since Anglo-Saxon times, when it was first written in the English language. It continues to inspire in both ancient and contemporary forms.

A Poem isoften defined by the era in which it is composed. Works of a particular period can share distinct characteristics and themes. Anglo-Saxon poetry, for example, included recurring themes such as vikings, dragons and visions.

Poetry is a flexible medium - a poem can be as long or as short as the poet desires, and there are many different styles of writing, from sonnets and verse, to limericks and rhythm.

A poet’s inspiration shapes the character of the poem, and this can often derive from his or her surroundings. Benjie Fraser says his work is influenced by an unusual combination of TS Eliot, and his daily commute into work on the underground, as well as his business trips around Europe.

Although TS Eliot did not write many poems about the city, Mr Fraser says that he is inspired by Eliot’s prose. ‘The language is living, interesting, to me, perhaps sometimes in its ordinariness’ he says.

If you are a budding poet the please get in contact with us and let us know about yourself and what inspires you.

Bonus time follows spring
Cheapside 's peace threatened by sheep
Masses of small specks flooding a green field
Beneath the Barbican.
A man walks down Cornhill muttering
About borrowings, buys the evening paper, decides
To hurl a brick through the window of the
Jampot where he used to drink with ghostly
Organists like Mendelssohn.

The City's unofficial poet in residence holds the first reading of his new work next month, on July 22 at Guildhall Art Gallery. B.H. "Benjie" Fraser will read from his City Poems collection, which are all about working in the City.

Try Bonus Time: "Bonus time follows spring/Cheapside's peace threatened by sheep/Masses of small specks flooding a green field/Beneath the Barbican can..."
Fraser writes his poems during business trips around Europe.

Also at the event, and reading selections from his work, the playwright Harold Pinter, who is, by coincidence, Benjie's stepfather. I think we can assume his choices will not include God Bless America: "Here they go again,/The Yanks in their ballads of joy/As they gallop across the big world/Praising America's God."

It would be, at best, tactless. Fraser, in his day job, is the London managing director of the Bank of New York.

The Spectator:The Spectator's Notes
(June 03)

By coincidence, after years as more or less the only member of the Fraser Gang (Lady Tony's mob, that is, not Mad Frankie's) not to have published his literary efforts, young Benjamin Fraser has at last cracked and tumbled into print. His debut collection of poetry, City Poems (Greville Press), is dedicated 'To Harold',
though there's scant sign of printer's influence in the poems. Much less swearing, and one even begins, 'Pray Americans come./Booted. On. Now.', which if memory serves, is not quite Harold's line. Anyway, jolly good they are too.

Daily Mail: Ephraim Hardcastle
(June 03)

Lady Antonia Fraser's son, Benjie, 41, has written a volume of verse, City Poems. What does his stepfather, playwright/poet Harold Pinter, think of them? Lady Antonia tells me: 'Harold told Benjie, "This is an original voice". ' A little non-committal?

The Daily Telegraph: A Poet for the Pakenhams
(June 03)

There is a new addition to the Pakenhams writing clan. Lady Antonia Fraser's eldest son, Benjie, a banker by trade, has just released his first collection of poems. Fraser, who writes during business trips around Europe, published
City Poems after winning a competition in his native Hampshire.

"I've always written poetry, but never got round to showing it to anybody until I won this contest," he tells Spy. "Who knows where it will end up?"

Fraser's stepfather, Harold Pinter, has pronounced him a "truly original" poet. His mother, meanwhile, comments: "I think they're very good indeed. But then I would say that, wouldn't I?"