''The Klaxon: An Irish International Quarterly'' was an avant-garde literary magazine of literature, art, and criticism published in Dublin. The magazine ran for a single issue between 1923-1924. It was created and edited by A.J. "Con" Leventhal. Leventhal decided to start the magazine after his review of ''Ulysses'' was rejected by

Seumas O'Sullivan Seumas or Seamus O'Sullivan (born James Sullivan Starkey; 17 July 1879 – 24 March 1958) was an Irish poet and editor of ''The Dublin Magazine''. His father, William Starkey (1836-1918), a physician, was also a poet and a friend of George Sigerson ...

The Dublin Magazine ''The Dublin Magazine'' was an Irish literary journal founded and edited by the poet Seumas O'Sullivan (real name James Sullivan Starkey) and published in ''Dublin'' by "Dublin Publishers, Ltd., 9 Commercial Buildings. ''London'': Elkin Mathew ...

on account of the printers' refusal to publish a positive review of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

. Among its contributors were

Thomas MacGreevy Thomas MacGreevy (born Thomas McGreevy; 26 October 1893 – 16 March 1967) was a pivotal figure in the history of Irish literary modernism. A poet, he was also director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1950 to 1963 and served on the f ...

Francis Stuart Henry Francis Montgomery Stuart (29 April 19022 February 2000) was an Irish writer. He was awarded one of the highest artistic accolades in Ireland, being elected a Saoi of Aosdána, before his death in 2000. His years in Nazi Germany led to a g ...

, F.R. Higgins, and Cecil Ffrench Salkeld. ''The Klaxon'' is noteworthy for being the first magazine to publish a critically appreciative review of ''Ulysses'' in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

. It also included an installment of

Arland Ussher Percival Arland Ussher (9 September 1899 – 24 December 1980) was an Anglo-Irish academic, essayist and translator. Ussher was born in Battersea, London, the only child of Emily Jebb (born on the Lyth estate, Ellesmere, Shropshire in 1872) a ...

's English translation of

Brian Merriman Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (c. 1747 – 27 July 1805) was an Irish language bard, farmer, and hedge school teacher from rural County Clare. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Dream vision poem ( ...

The Midnight Court Brian Merriman or in Irish Brian Mac Giolla Meidhre (c. 1747 – 27 July 1805) was an Irish language bard, farmer, and hedge school teacher from rural County Clare. His single surviving work of substance, the 1000-line long Dream vision poem ...

, the first translation of the poem to be published in the 20th century. The original poetry and criticism published in ''The Klaxon'' show an engagement with European modernist movements like

imagism Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism is sometim ...

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris ...

, and

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, as well as an interest in Japanese and African art. After failing to secure funding for a second issue, Leventhal and other ''Klaxon'' contributors went on to start another avant-garde periodical called To-Morrow, which was published for two issues (August 1924 and September 1924).

Reception

At the time of its publication, ''The Klaxon'' was described as "an excellent ambition" by the pro-treaty

Freeman's Journal The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper. Patriot journal It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with radi ...

and "unconventional" by the ''Irish Independent,'' which compared the magazine to

Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals ''The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review'' were instrumental in ...

transatlantic review Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

. George Russell, writing for the

Irish Statesman The ''Irish Statesman'' was a weekly journal promoting the views of the Irish Dominion League. It ran from 27 June 1919 to June 1930, edited by Warre B. Wells, assisted by James Winder Good, and with contributions from W. B. Yeats, George Bern ...

, described the venture as "Irish youth ..trying desperately to be wild and wicked without the capacity to be anything else but young". Contemporary scholars have described ''The Klaxon'' as "Ireland's first ..fiercely Modernist magazine." Its design and content are consistent with other periodicals published during the interwar high modernist period, especially

little magazine In the United States, a little magazine is a magazine genre consisting of "artistic work which for reasons of commercial expediency is not acceptable to the money-minded periodicals or presses", according to a 1942 study by Frederick J. Hoffman, ...

s like

The Little Review ''The Little Review'', an American literary magazine founded by Margaret Anderson in Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, published literary and art work from 1914 to May 1929. With the help of Jane Heap and Ezra Pound, Anderson created a maga ...

, ''BLAST'', and ''391''. Like many modernist magazines, ''The Klaxon'' featured a manifesto, written by Leventhal, which was aimed at provoking the public: "We railed against the psychopedantic parlours of our elders and their maidenly consorts, hoping the while with an excess of Picabia and banter, a whiff of Dadaist Europe to kick Ireland into artistic wakefulness."

Content

The only issue of ''The Klaxon'', published in Winter 1923/4, included: * "Confessional," by Lawrence K. Emery (pseudonym of A.J. "Con" Leventhal) * "Beauty Energised," by F.R. Higgins * "The Midnight Court," by

(trans.

) * "North," by

* "Cheese," by John W. Blaine * "The Will of God," by "Sechilienne" * "The Ulysses of Mr. James Joyce," by Lawrence K. Emery (pseudonym of A.J. "Con" Leventhal) * "Cleopatra," by F.R. Higgins * "An Inghean Dubh," by G. Coulter * "Picasso, Mamie Jellett, and Dublin Criticism" (sic), by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klaxon Irish Magazine 1923 establishments in Ireland 1924 disestablishments in Ireland Defunct literary magazines published in Europe Defunct magazines published in Ireland Magazines disestablished in 1924 Magazines established in 1923