''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of

News Corp News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the News Corporation (1980–2013), original News Corporation, it was formed ...

History

The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication in 1914. Many distinguished writers have contributed, including

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

, Henry James and Virginia Woolf. Reviews were normally anonymous until 1974, when signed reviews were gradually introduced during the editorship of

John Gross John Gross FRSL (12 March 1935 – 10 January 2011) was an eminent English man of letters. A leading intellectual, writer, anthologist, and critic, ''The Guardian'' (in a tribute titled "My Hero") and ''The Spectator'' were among several pub ...

. This aroused great controversy. "Anonymity had once been appropriate when it was a general rule at other publications, but it had ceased to be so", Gross said. "In addition I personally felt that reviewers ought to take responsibility for their opinions."

Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir '' ...

was a member of the editorial staff early in his career. Philip Larkin's poem "Aubade", his final poetic work, was first published in the Christmas-week issue of the ''TLS'' in 1977. While it has long been regarded as one of the world's pre-eminent critical publications, its history is not without gaffes: it missed James Joyce entirely, and commented only negatively on Lucian Freud from 1945 until 1978, when a portrait of his appeared on the cover. Its editorial offices are based in The News Building, London. It is edited by Martin Ivens, who succeeded Stig Abell in June 2020. The ''TLS'' has included essays, reviews and poems by D. M. Thomas,

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

, Italo Calvino, Patricia Highsmith,

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

, Philip Larkin,

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

, Gore Vidal, Orhan Pamuk, Geoffrey Hill and Seamus Heaney, among others. Many writers have described the publication as indispensable;

, novelist and the 2010 winner of the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

, had once described the ''TLS'' as "the most serious, authoritative, witty, diverse and stimulating cultural publication in all the five languages I speak".

Editors

* 1902:

James Thursfield Sir James Richard Thursfield (16 November 1840 – 22 November 1923) was a British naval historian and journalist. As well as being an authority on naval matters, he was also the first editor of the ''Times Literary Supplement''. Thursfield ...

* 1902: Bruce Richmond * 1938:

D. L. Murray David Leslie Murray (1888–1962) was a British writer and editor of the '' Times Literary Supplement'' from 1938 to 1945. Biography Murray was born in London on 5 February 1888. He was educated at Harrow School and Balliol College, Oxford ...

(David Leslie Murray) * 1945: Stanley Morison * 1948:

Alan Payan Pryce-Jones Lt-Col. Alan Payan Pryce-Jones TD (18 November 1908 – 22 January 2000) was a British book critic, writer, journalist and Liberal Party politician. He was notably editor of ''The Times Literary Supplement'' from 1948 to 1959. Background Pryce-Jo ...

* 1959: Arthur Crook * 1974:

* 1981:

Jeremy Treglown The biographer, cultural historian and critic Jeremy Treglown (born 24 May 1946) is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick. He was editor of ''The Times Literary Supplement'' through the 1980s and Chair of the Arvon Foundation, 2017-2 ...

* 1991: Ferdinand Mount * 2003: Peter Stothard * 2016: Stig Abell * 2020: Martin Ivens

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Times Literary Supplement 1902 establishments in the United Kingdom Book review magazines Literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1902 Magazines published in London Newspaper supplements News UK Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom

History

Editors

See also

References

Further reading

External links