Paladin Poetry Series
Encyclopedia
Paladin Poetry was a series of paperback books published by Grafton Books (later amalgamated into HarperCollins
) under its Paladin imprint, intended to bring modernist and radical poetry before a wider audience. Its founding anthology The New British Poetry
1968-88 attempted to revive the fortunes of the modernist tradition, to correct the gender imbalance of previous anthologies and to bring a new generation of ‘Black British’ poets to prominence. The series was originally edited by writer John Muckle
, then Grafton’s editorial copywriter (1985–88), and later by the London writer Iain Sinclair
. Many of the Paladin Poetry books were paperback originals. Sadly, the entire poetry series was pulped within months of the publication of its last titles. However, it did have an impact on poetry readers and a considerable influence on the output of other poetry publishers, such as Bloodaxe, Penguin, Carcanet and Salt.
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
) under its Paladin imprint, intended to bring modernist and radical poetry before a wider audience. Its founding anthology The New British Poetry
The New British Poetry
The New British Poetry was a poetry anthology from 1988, jointly edited by Gillian Allnutt, Fred D'Aguiar, Ken Edwards and Eric Mottram, respectively concerned with feminist, Black British, younger experimental and British poetry revival poets. The time frame involved was 1968-1988...
1968-88 attempted to revive the fortunes of the modernist tradition, to correct the gender imbalance of previous anthologies and to bring a new generation of ‘Black British’ poets to prominence. The series was originally edited by writer John Muckle
John Muckle
John Muckle is a British writer who has published works of fiction, poetry and criticism.Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, he grew up in the village of Cobham, Surrey, and has lived most of his adult life in Essex and London. After failing his eleven-plus, Muckle attended a local secondary modern...
, then Grafton’s editorial copywriter (1985–88), and later by the London writer Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair FRSL is a British writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.-Life and work:...
. Many of the Paladin Poetry books were paperback originals. Sadly, the entire poetry series was pulped within months of the publication of its last titles. However, it did have an impact on poetry readers and a considerable influence on the output of other poetry publishers, such as Bloodaxe, Penguin, Carcanet and Salt.
Paladin Poetry titles
- John AshberyJohn AshberyJohn Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, Selected Poems (expanded edition) (1987) - The New British PoetryThe New British PoetryThe New British Poetry was a poetry anthology from 1988, jointly edited by Gillian Allnutt, Fred D'Aguiar, Ken Edwards and Eric Mottram, respectively concerned with feminist, Black British, younger experimental and British poetry revival poets. The time frame involved was 1968-1988...
1968-88 (eds Gillian AllnuttGillian AllnuttGillian Allnutt is an English poet who now lives in Esh Winning, County Durham. Her books Nantucket and the Angel and Lintel were both shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. In 2001/02 and 2002/03 she was a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow, partly at Newcastle University...
, Fred D'AguiarFred D'AguiarFred D'Aguiar is an author of poetry, novels, and drama.D'Aguiar was born in London. His parents were Guyanese. He spent his childhood, from the age of two to twelve, in Guyana. His work has received much, and growing, acclaim. His Bill of Rights, about the Jonestown Massacre of 1978, was a...
, Ken EdwardsKen EdwardsKen Edwards is a poet, editor, writer and musician who has lived in England since 1968. He is associated with The British Poetry Revival....
, Eric MottramEric MottramEric Mottram was a teacher, critic, editor and poet who was one of the central figures in the British Poetry Revival.-Early life and education:...
) (1988) - Lee HarwoodLee HarwoodLee Harwood is a poet associated with the British Poetry Revival.-Life:Travers Rafe Lee Harwood was born in Leicester to maths teacher Wilfred Travers Lee-Harwood and Grace Ladkin Harwood, who were then living in Chertsey, Surrey...
, Crossing the Frozen River (selected poems) (1988) - Tom RaworthTom RaworthTom Raworth is a London-born poet and visual artist who has published over forty books of poetry and prose since 1966. His works has been translated and published in many countries. Raworth is a key figure in the British Poetry Revival. He lives in Brighton, England.-Early life and work:Raworth...
, Tottering State (selected poems) (1988) - Iain SinclairIain SinclairIain Sinclair FRSL is a British writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.-Life and work:...
, Flesh Eggs and Scalp Metal (selected poems) (1989) - Hans Magnus EnzensbergerHans Magnus EnzensbergerHans Magnus Enzensberger , is a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He has also written under the pseudonym Andreas Thalmayr. He lives in Munich.- Life :...
, The Sinking of the Titanic (1989) - A Various Art (eds Crozier and Longville) (1989)
- Christopher MiddletonChristopher Middleton (poet)Christopher Middleton is a British poet and translator, especially of German literature.-Life:He was born in Truro, Cornwall, in 1926. He studied at Merton College, Oxford. He then held academic positions at the University of Zürich and King's College London. He became Professor of Germanic...
, Selected Writings (1990) - John AshberyJohn AshberyJohn Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, April Galleons (1990) - Douglas OliverDouglas OliverDouglas Dunlop Oliver was a poet, novelist, editor, and educator. The author of more than a dozen works, Oliver came into poetry not as an academic but through a career in journalism, notably in Cambridge, Paris, and Coventry, before attending the University of Essex in the 1970s. He received a...
, Three Variations of the Theme of Harm (selected poetry and prose) (1990) - Octavio PazOctavio PazOctavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
, The Collected Poems 1957-1987 (1991) - William Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
, Collected Poems (1991) - Gregory CorsoGregory CorsoGregory Nunzio Corso was an American poet, youngest of the inner circle of Beat Generation writers...
, Mindfield (selected poems) (1992) - Octavio PazOctavio PazOctavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
, On Poets and Others (essays) (1992) - Jeremy ReedJeremy ReedJeremy Thomas Reed is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent.Reed graduated from Bonita High School in 1999, and went on to play college baseball at Long Beach State University...
, Red-Haired Android (1992) - Future Exiles, 3 London Poets: Allen FisherAllen FisherAllen Fisher is a poet, painter, publisher, teacher and performer associated with the British Poetry Revival.Fisher was born in London and started writing poetry in 1962. His early long project Place was published in a series of books and pamphlets in the 1970s. He worked on a project called...
, Bill GriffithsBill GriffithsBill Griffiths was a poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar associated with the British Poetry Revival.-Overview:...
, Brian Catling (Re:Active Anthology 1, ed Sinclair) (1992) - Ghosts in the Corridor: Andrew CrozierAndrew CrozierAndrew Thomas Knights Crozier was a poet associated with the British Poetry Revival.-Life:Crozier was educated at Dulwich College, and later Christ's College, Cambridge. His 1976 book Pleats won the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize, awarded jointly that year with Lee Harwood...
, Donald DavieDonald DavieDonald Alfred Davie was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes.-Biography:...
, C.H. Sisson (Re:Active Anthology 2, ed Sinclair) (1992) - The Tempers of Hazard: Thomas A. Clark, Barry MacSweeneyBarry MacSweeneyBarry MacSweeney was an English poet and journalist.-Life and work:Barry MacSweeney was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. He worked as a professional journalist throughout most of his life...
, Chris TorranceChris TorranceChris Torrance is a poet and musician associated with the British Poetry Revival.- Biography :Born in Edinburgh, Torrance grew up in London and moved to rural Wales in 1970. He has been teaching creative writing at the Cardiff University since 1976...
(Re:Active Anthology 3, ed Sinclair) (1993)
Sources
- Gillian Allnutt, in Binary myths 2: Correspondences with Poet-Editors (Andy Brown, ed.) (Stride, 1999)
- Charles Bernstein, My Way: Speeches and Poems (University of Chicago, 1999)
- Richard Caddel, interviewed in Contemporary Views on the Little Magazine Scene (Wolfgang Görtschacher, Andreas Schachermayr, eds.) (University of Salzburg, 2000)
- Elaine Jordan, in Writing: A Woman's Business : Women, Writing and the Marketplace (Judy Simons, Kate Fullbrook, eds.) (Manchester University Press, 1998)
- Iain Sinclair, Lights Out for the Territory (Granta Books, 1997)
- Robert Sheppard, The Poetry of Saying: British Poetry and Its Discontents 1950-2000 (Liverpool University Press, 2005) p 152
- Simon Smith interviewed in Tim Allen, Andrew Duncan (eds), Don't Start Me Talking: Interviews with Contemporary Poets (Salt Publishing, 2008)p 365