The Phoenix Living Poets [1] was a series of slim books of poetry published from 1960 until 1983 by Chatto and Windus Ltd. The poets included in the series offer a cross-section of poets of the era, including some notable writers. Generally those writing were not producing the most experimental work of the era but, taken as a whole, the series covers a significant range of voices and styles.
The series had its origins in the Hogarth Press, which was founded in 1917 by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. [2] In 1946, Hogarth came under the control of Chatto and Windus, and in 1969 Chatto and Windus joined Jonathan Cape, becoming part of Random House in 1987. [3] One of the earliest books in the series was a second impression of Laurie Lee's "The Sun my Monument" originally published by the Hogarth Press in 1944 in its "New Hogarth Library" series [4] and other poets are represented in both series. The Phoenix Living Poets series was started by Chatto & Windus with some continuity of poets from the earlier series and this imprint was maintained throughout the years of publication. Typically the title pages of the Phoenix Living Poets series show both 'Chatto and Windus' and 'The Hogarth Press' together.
The series was edited but the editors are not named on the individual volumes. D J Enright was the editor in the early 1980s (at least), according to J. H. Williams in "The Salt." [5] Some of the covers were designed by Enid Marx, [6] known for her patterned textile and book jacket designs. [7] A typical volume has from 48 to 72 pages.
Sir Isaiah Berlin was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks were sometimes recorded and transcribed, and many of his spoken words were converted into published essays and books, both by himself and by others, especially his principal editor from 1974, Henry Hardy.
Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contributed to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts. Some 750,000 copies of his books were sold in UK editions alone, and there are many translations available. His work laid foundations for the field of cultural studies and cultural materialism.
The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond, in which they began hand-printing books as a hobby during the interwar period.
Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt, is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner, and won the 2017 Park Kyong-ni Prize. In 2008, The Times named her on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.
Norman Alexander MacCaig DLitt was a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry, in modern English, is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity.
Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business partner Andrew Chatto and poet William Edward Windus. The company was purchased by Random House in 1987 and is now a sub-imprint of Vintage Books within the Penguin UK division.
Richard Thomas Mabey is a writer and broadcaster, chiefly on the relations between nature and culture.
Dennis Joseph Enright OBE FRSL was a British academic, poet, novelist and critic. He authored Academic Year (1955), Memoirs of a Mendicant Professor (1969) and a wide range of essays, reviews, anthologies, children's books and poems.
Philip Blake Morrison FRSL is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He has also written a study of the murder of James Bulger, As If. Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Dame Marina Sarah Warner, is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publications, including The London Review of Books, the New Statesman, Sunday Times and Vogue. She has been a visiting professor, given lectures and taught on the faculties of many universities.
P. J. Kavanagh FRSL was an English poet, lecturer, actor, broadcaster and columnist. His father was the ITMA scriptwriter Ted Kavanagh.
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Norah Evelyn Smallwood OBE, née Walford, was an English publisher.
Edward Storey, was an English poet, dramatist and non-fiction writer. He was born at Whittlesey, part of the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire. The Fens inspired much of his work.
Jennifer Sheila Uglow is an English biographer, historian, critic and publisher. She was an editorial director of Chatto & Windus. She has written critically acclaimed biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell, William Hogarth, Thomas Bewick, and Edward Lear, and a history and joint biography of the Lunar Society, among others, and has also compiled The Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography.
Peter Michael Fuller was a British art critic and magazine editor.
John Hartley Williams was an English poet who was born in Cheshire and grew up in London. He studied at the University of Nottingham and later at the University of London. His 2004 poetry book, Blues, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. He was a judge of the 2007 Poetry on the Lake poetry competition, a judge of the Keats-Shelley Prize for Poetry, and a tutor at the Arvon Foundation. He died from cancer at his home in Berlin in May 2014. He was survived by Gizella, his wife of 44 years, and their daughter.

Enid Crystal Dorothy Marx, RDI, was an English painter and designer, best known for her industrial textile designs for the London Transport Board and the Utility furniture Scheme. Marx was the first female engraver to be designated as a Royal Designer for Industry.
Roy McFadden was a Northern Irish poet, editor, and lawyer.
John Clive Hall was an English poet and editor.