The ''Phoenix Living Poets'' was a series of slim books of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

published from 1960 until 1983 by

Chatto and Windus 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 ...

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 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 (then in Surrey and now ...

, which was founded in 1917 by

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

. In 1946, Hogarth came under the control of Chatto and Windus, and in 1969 Chatto and Windus joined

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

, becoming part of

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 1987. 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 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."Williams, JH (2007) "The Ship" Cambridge, Salt Some of the covers were designed by

Enid Marx Enid Crystal Dorothy Marx, RDI (20 October 1902 – 18 May 1998), 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 eng ...

,Enid Marx's name is shown on the inner dust jacket flap for the earlier ones she designed (in various colours with the multiple repeated phoenixes) and on the back for the later ones (with the yellow strips) known for her patterned textile and book jacket designs. A typical volume has from 48 to 72 pages.

Authors

* James Aitchison * Alexander Baird *

Alan Bold Alan Norman Bold (1943–1998) was a Scottish poet, biographer, journalist and saxophonist. He was born in Edinburgh. He edited Hugh MacDiarmid's ''Letters'' and wrote the influential biography ''MacDiarmid''. Bold had acquainted himself with Mac ...

* R H Bowden * Frederick Broadie * Michael Burn *

Philip Callow Philip Kenneth Callow (26 October 1924 – 22 September 2007) was an English novelist known for his autobiographical portrayals of working-class life. During a long career as a writer, he published 16 novels, poetry, and several biographies of ar ...

Hayden Carruth Hayden Carruth (August 3, 1921 – September 29, 2008) was an American poet, literary critic and anthologist. He taught at Syracuse University. Life Hayden Carruth was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut. He gra ...

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...

* John Cotton * Jennifer Couroucli *

Patric Dickinson Patric Thomas Dickinson (26 December 1914 – 28 January 1994) was a British poet, translator from the Greek and Latin classics, and playwright. He also worked for the BBC, from 1942 to 1948. His verse play ''Theseus and the Minotaur'' was broad ...

Tom Earley Thomas Francis Aloysius Earley (February 19, 1917 – April 5, 1988) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played six seasons with the Boston Bees / Braves from 1938 to 1942 and 1945. In between his playing days Earley served in the United S ...

* D J Enright * Gloria Evans Davies * Irene Fekete * John Fuller * David Gill * Peter Gruffydd * D J Hall * J C Hall *

Molly Holden Molly Winifred Holden (7 September 1927 in London – 1981) was a British poet. Biography Holden grew up in Surrey, and Wiltshire. She graduated from King's College London in 1951. Her maiden name was Gilbert. She was the granddaughter of the p ...

* John Horder * Peter Howe * P J Kavanagh * Richard Kell *

Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...

Laurence Lerner Laurence Lerner (12 December 1925 – 19 January 2016), often called Larry, was a South African-born British literary critic, poet, novelist, and lecturer, recognized for his achievement with his election to The Royal Society of Literature. Biogra ...

* Christopher Levenson *

Edward Lowbury Edward Joseph Lister Lowbury (December 12, 1913 - July 10, 2007) was a pioneering and innovative English medical bacteriologist and pathologist, and also a published poet. Life Edward Lowbury was born in Hampstead to the recently naturalised Benj ...

Norman MacCaig Norman Alexander MacCaig DLitt (14 November 1910 – 23 January 1996) was a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry, in modern English, is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity. Life Norman Alexander MacCaig was born ...

* Gordon Mackay Brown *

Roy McFadden Roy McFadden (14 November 1921 – 15 September 1999) was a Northern Irish poet, editor, and lawyer. McFadden's first poem was published before he was thirteen. His earliest influences were from magazines and journals that his Father brought home, ...

* Diana McLoghlen *

James Merrill James Ingram Merrill (March 3, 1926 – February 6, 1995) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for ''Divine Comedies.'' His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyri ...

* Ruth Miller *

Leslie Norris George Leslie Norris (21 May 1921 – 6 April 2006), was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. He taught at academic institutions in Britain and the United States, including Brigham Young University. Norris is considered one of ...

Richard Outram Richard Daley Outram (April 9, 1930 – January 21, 2005) was a Canadian poet. Often regarded as a poet's poet, he wrote eleven commercially published books of poetry in addition to the many collections of poetry and prose published under the imp ...

* Robert Pack * Rodney Pybus * Arnold Rattenbury *

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "th ...

Hardiman Scott Jack "Peter" Hardiman Scott (2 April 1920 – 15 September 1999) was an English journalist, broadcaster and writer. He served as the BBC's first political editor, from 1970 to 1975. During his time at the BBC, he reported on, and grew close to, ...

Anne Sexton Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book '' Live or Die''. Her poetry details ...

Jon Silkin Jon Silkin (2 December 1930 – 25 November 1997) was a British poet. Early life Jon Silkin was born in London, in a Litvak Jewish family, his parents were Joseph Silkin and Doris Rubenstein. His grandparents were all from the Lithuanian- part ...

* John Smith *

Jon Stallworthy Jon Howie Stallworthy, (18 January 1935 – 19 November 2014) was a British literary critic and poet. He was Professor of English at the University of Oxford from 1992 to 2000, and Professor Emeritus in retirement. He was also a Fellow of Wolfs ...

* Gillian Stoneham *

Edward Storey Edward Storey (28 February 1930 – 18 November 2018), 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. Early career Before becomin ...

* David Sutton *

Terence Tiller Terence Rogers Tiller (19 September 1916 – 24 December 1987) was an English poet and radio producer. Early life, poet Tiller was born in Truro, Cornwall and educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith.Obituary, ''The Times'', 5 January 198 ...

* Sydney Tremayne * Jon Manchip White *

John Hartley Williams John Hartley Williams (7 February 1942 – 3 May 2014) 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 short ...

* Lotte Zurndorfer

References

{{Reflist British poetry collections