''New Writing'' was a popular literary periodical in book format founded in 1936 by

John Lehmann Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals ''New Writing'' and ''The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited. Biography Born in ...

and committed to

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

.''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 1 – An Age Like This 1939–1940'', p. 250. Penguin It featured leading poets and writers of the day such as

W.H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

V.S. Pritchett Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett (also known as VSP; 16 December 1900 – 20 March 1997) was a British writer and literary critic. Pritchett was known particularly for his short stories, collated in a number of volumes. His non-fiction works incl ...

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

, Tom Wintringham, Stephen Spender, Ahmed Ali, Jim Phelan, Rex Warner, and B. L. Coombes.Steve Ellis, ''British writers and the approach of World War II.'' New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. (p. 175) ''New Writing'' also published articles about

Mass-Observation Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex. Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...

Tom Harrisson Major (United Kingdom), Major Tom Harnett Harrisson, DSO OBE (26 September 1911 – 16 January 1976) was a British polymath. In the course of his life he was an ornithologist, explorer, journalist, broadcaster, soldier, guerrilla, ethnologist, mu ...

. After having been approached by Lehmann to contribute a piece to the periodical,

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

developed a "sketch" he had had in mind for some time, and which appeared as " Shooting an Elephant", first published in the second number of the periodical, in Autumn 1936. A second piece by Orwell, "Marrakech", appeared in the Christmas 1939 edition.''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 1 – An Age Like This 1939–1940'', p. 426. Penguin

''Penguin New Writing''

With ''New Writings future uncertain, Lehmann wrote ''New Writing in Europe'' for Pelican Books, a critical summary of the writers of the 1930s. Wintringham reintroduced Lehmann to

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

, and which survived until 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Writing 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom 1950 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1936 Magazines disestablished in 1950