Fantasy Press (poetry)

Last updated

The Fantasy Press was an English publisher of poetry between 1951 and 1962, allied to the Oxford University Poetry Society and superintended by the painter and illustrator Oscar Mellor. As well as publishing a regular series of pamphlets by undergraduate and graduate poets between 1952 and 1957, it also brought out longer collections by some, as well as anthologies of university poetry containing their work.

Contents

A local stimulus

The firm was established by Oscar Mellor in Swinford, Oxfordshire, primarily to finance his work as an artist, [1] but gained a high-profile through publishing a series of poets who became major figures of The Movement and The Group - as well as others who went on to make their name in the US, such as Donald Hall, Adrienne Rich, Richard Selig and George Steiner. [2] English Poets who had early works published by the Fantasy Press included Elizabeth Jennings, [3] Thom Gunn, [4] Philip Larkin, [5] and Geoffrey Hill. [6]

As well as those who made a short first appearance in the Fantasy Poets series, some proceeded to publish more substantial collections from the press. These included Thom Gunn's original "Fighting Terms" (1954); [7] two by George MacBeth ("A Form of Words", 1954, and "Lecture to the Trainees", 1962); [8] Charles Tomlinson (the original "The Necklace", 1955); [9] Gordon Wharton, ("This and That", 1955); [10] Donald Davie ("The Brides of Reason", 1955); [11] Lucien Stryk, ("The Trespasser", 1956); [12] Kingsley Amis ("The Evans Country", 1962); [13] Peter Dale, ("A Walk from the House", 1962); [14] Michael Fried, ("Other Hands, 1962"). [15]

Up until 1953, the Basil Blackwell imprint had been the chief recourse for university poets and had published annual Oxford Poetry anthologies until 1953, when Fantasy Press took the project over. [16] Work in the successive anthologies was the choice of students from the Oxford University Poetry Society, who were also made aware at this time of the poetry being written by their Cambridge contemporaries. [17] Another Fantasy Press venture of this period, for example, Poetry from Cambridge 1952-4, contained early work by Ted Hughes and by Gunn. [18]

Fantasy Poets series

This was a numbered series of 35 booklets published by the press between 1952 and 1957. Each was in octavo format, card-wrapped and centre-stapled, containing a small eight-page selection of poems by an individual poet. Some 300 copies of each were printed. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Larkin</span> English poet, novelist and librarian (1922–1985)

Philip Arthur Larkin was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, The North Ship, was published in 1945, followed by two novels, Jill (1946) and A Girl in Winter (1947). He came to prominence in 1955 with the publication of his second collection of poems, The Less Deceived, followed by The Whitsun Weddings (1964) and High Windows (1974). He contributed to The Daily Telegraph as its jazz critic from 1961 to 1971, with his articles gathered in All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961–71 (1985), and edited The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse (1973). His many honours include the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was offered, but declined, the position of Poet Laureate in 1984, following the death of Sir John Betjeman.

Elizabeth Joan Jennings was a British poet.

The Movement was a term coined in 1954 by J. D. Scott, literary editor of The Spectator, to describe a group of writers including Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis, Donald Davie, D. J. Enright, John Wain, Elizabeth Jennings, Thom Gunn and Robert Conquest. The Movement was quintessentially English in character; poets from other parts of the United Kingdom were not involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Davie</span> English poet

Donald Alfred Davie, FBA was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes.

Ruth Pitter, CBE, FRSL was a British poet.

John Barrington Wain CBE was an English poet, novelist, and critic, associated with the literary group known as "The Movement". He worked for most of his life as a freelance journalist and author, writing and reviewing for newspapers and the radio.

Thomson William "Thom" Gunn was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, where he adopted a looser, free-verse style. Gunn wrote about his experience moving to San Francisco from England. He received numerous literary honors, and his best poems are reputed to possess a restrained elegance of philosophy.

<i>The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse</i>

The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse is a poetry anthology edited by Philip Larkin. It was published in 1973 by Oxford University Press with ISBN 0-19-812137-7. Larkin writes in the short preface that the selection is wide rather than deep; and also notes that for the post-1914 period it is more a collection of poems, than of poets. The remit was limited by him to poets with a period of residence in the British Isles. Larkin's generous selection of Thomas Hardy's poems has been noted for its influence on Hardy's later reputation. On the other hand, he was criticized, notably by Donald Davie, for his inclusion of "pop" poets such as Brian Patten. The volume contains works by 207 poets.

<i>New Poets of England and America</i>

New Poets of England and America was a poetry anthology edited by Donald Hall, Robert Pack and Louis Simpson, and published in 1957. In the post-war story about relations between American and British poetry, it represents the moment of closest rapprochement, actual or intended. The introduction was written by Robert Frost. The inclusion of a number of British Movement poets, as well as others, implies some kind of search for matching figures amongst the Americans. Poets had to be under forty years old to be included.

The Faber Book of Modern Verse was a poetry anthology, edited in its first edition by Michael Roberts, and published in 1936 by Faber and Faber. There was a second edition (1951) edited by Anne Ridler, and a third edition (1965) edited by Donald Hall. The selection was of poems in English printed after 1910, which meant that work by Gerard Manley Hopkins could be included. A later edition was edited by Peter Porter.

British Poetry since 1945 is a poetry anthology edited by Edward Lucie-Smith, published in 1970 by Penguin Books, with a second and last edition in 1985. The anthology is a careful attempt to take account of the whole span of post-war British poetry, including poets from The Group, a London-centred workshop that Lucie-Smith himself had once been chairman of, following the departure of founder Philip Hobsbaum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Treece</span> British poet and writer (1911-1966)

Henry Treece was a British poet and writer who also worked as a teacher and editor. He wrote a range of works but is mostly remembered as a writer of children's historical novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Sutherland Fraser</span> British poet

George Sutherland Fraser was a Scottish poet, literary critic and academic.

The Penguin poetry anthologies, published by Penguin Books, have at times played the role of a "third force" in British poetry, less literary than those from Faber and Faber, and less academic than those from Oxford University Press..

Anthony Simon Thwaite OBE was an English poet and critic, widely known as the editor of his friend Philip Larkin's collected poems and letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gnome Press</span> Defunct American small-press publishing company

Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company active 1948 – 1962 and primarily known for fantasy and science fiction, many later regarded as classics.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need, and is currently worth (2014) between $6,000 and $9,000. The selection is made by a jury of three poets: one each appointed by the presidents of Radcliffe and Berkeley, and the third by the Board of Governors of the Society.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

References

  1. ↑ You Muddy Fools Letter by Trevor Denning to the London Review of Books, 7 February 2002
  2. ↑ James Keery, "Menacing Works in my Isolation" in The Thing About Roy Fisher, Liverpool University, 2000, p.53
  3. ↑ Obituary: Elizabeth Jennings Grevel Lindop, The Guardian, Wednesday October 31, 2001
  4. ↑ Thom Gunn (1929 - 2004), The Poetry Foundation
  5. ↑ Biography - Philip Larkin (1922-85) Archived 2010-02-09 at the Wayback Machine The Philip Larkin Society
  6. ↑ "Fantasy Press", Peter Harrington
  7. ↑ Biblio
  8. ↑ "George MacBeth 1932-92", Old Edwardians
  9. ↑ Biblio
  10. ↑ Richard Warren, "Back from oblivion: tracking the poetry of Gordon Wharton"
  11. ↑ Biblio
  12. ↑ Abe Books
  13. ↑ Clearwater Books
  14. ↑ Poetry Archive
  15. ↑ World Cat
  16. ↑ Valentine Cunningham, "Literary Culture", in The History of the University of Oxford, OUP 1994, vol. VIII (The Twentieth Century), p.424
  17. ↑ William Wootten, The Alvarez Generation, Liverpool University Press, 2015, p.3ff
  18. ↑ Abe Books
  19. ↑ John Cotton, The Fantasy Press (Dodman Press, 1977) Google Books
  20. ↑ A. T. Tolley, "Lotte Zurndorfer: A Forgotten Poet", PN Review 213 (2013)
  21. ↑ Oliver Tearle, "The Forgotten Movement Poet: The Poetry of Jonathan Price" (1931-85), Interesting Literature
  22. ↑ Selig, Richard, 1929-1957, snac
  23. ↑ "HOLLOWAY, Mark 1917-2004, Encyclopedia.com
  24. ↑ "Aldridge, Richard (1930 - 1994)", Maine State Library
  25. ↑ "KEENE, Dennis 1934–", Encyclopedia.com
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.