The Fantasy Press was an English publisher of poetry between 1951 and 1962, allied to the Oxford University Poetry Society and superintended by the painter and illustrator Oscar Mellor. As well as publishing a regular series of pamphlets by undergraduate and graduate poets between 1952 and 1957, it also brought out longer collections by some, as well as anthologies of university poetry containing their work.

A local stimulus

The firm was established by Oscar Mellor in

Swinford, Oxfordshire Swinford in the English county of Oxfordshire is a hamlet in the civil parish of Cumnor. It lies on the road between Eynsham and Farmoor (B4044) on the south bank of the River Thames. The Swinford Toll Bridge carrying the B4044 crosses the River ...

, primarily to finance his work as an artist, but gained a high-profile through publishing a series of poets who became major figures of

The Movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movemen ...

and

The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...

- as well as others who went on to make their name in the US, such as

Donald Hall Donald Andrew Hall Jr. (September 20, 1928 – June 23, 2018) was an American poet, writer, editor and literary critic. He was the author of over 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and includin ...

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 ...

, Richard Selig and

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...

. English Poets who had early works published by the Fantasy Press included Elizabeth Jennings,

Thom Gunn Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, even after moving towards a looser, ...

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...

, and

Geoffrey Hill Sir Geoffrey William Hill, FRSL (18 June 1932 – 30 June 2016) was an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be ...

. As well as those who made a short first appearance in the Fantasy Poets series, some proceeded to publish more substantial collections from the press. These included Thom Gunn's original "Fighting Terms" (1954); two by

George Macbeth George Mann MacBeth (19 January 1932 – 16 February 1992) was a Scottish poet and novelist. Biography George MacBeth was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. When he was three, his family moved to Sheffield in England. He was educated in Sh ...

("A Form of Words", 1954, and "Lecture to the Trainees", 1962);

Charles Tomlinson Alfred Charles Tomlinson, CBE (8 January 1927 – 22 August 2015) was an English poet, translator, academic, and illustrator. He was born in Penkhull, and grew up in Basford, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Life After attending Longton High Sc ...

(the original "The Necklace", 1955); Gordon Wharton, ("This and That", 1955);

Donald Davie Donald Alfred Davie, FBA (17 July 1922 – 18 September 1995) was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes. Biography Davie was born in Barnsley, ...

("The Brides of Reason", 1955);

Lucien Stryk Lucien Stryk (April 7, 1924 - January 24, 2013) was an American poet, translator of Buddhist literature and Zen poetry, and former English professor at Northern Illinois University (NIU). Biography Stryk was born in Poland on April 7, 1924, and ...

, ("The Trespasser", 1956);

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social an ...

("The Evans Country", 1962); Peter Dale, ("A Walk from the House", 1962);

Michael Fried Michael Martin Fried (born April 12, 1939 in New York City) is a modernist art critic and art historian. He studied at Princeton University and Harvard University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Merton College, Oxford. He is the J.R. Herbert Boone Pr ...

, ("Other Hands, 1962"). Up until 1953, the

Basil Blackwell Sir Basil Henry Blackwell (29 May 18899 April 1984) was born in Oxford, England. He was the son of Benjamin Henry Blackwell (18491924), founder of Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford, which went on to become the Blackwell family's publishing and booksh ...

imprint had been the chief recourse for university poets and had published annual ''Oxford Poetry'' anthologies until 1953, when Fantasy Press took the project over. Work in the successive anthologies was the choice of students from the Oxford University Poetry Society, who were also made aware at this time of the poetry being written by their Cambridge contemporaries. Another Fantasy Press venture of this period, for example, ''Poetry from Cambridge 1952-4'', contained early work by

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

and by Gunn.

Fantasy Poets series

This was a numbered series of 35 booklets published by the press between 1952 and 1957. Each was in

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

format, card-wrapped and centre-stapled, containing a small eight-page selection of poems by an individual poet. Some 300 copies of each were printed. * 1. Elizabeth Jennings (1952) * 2. Peace Young * 3. James Price * 4.

* 5. Simon Broadbent * 6.

Peter Dale Scott Peter Dale Scott (born 11 January 1929) is a Canadian-born poet, academic, and former diplomat. A son of the Canadian poet and constitutional lawyer F. R. Scott and painter Marian Dale Scott, he is best known for his critiques of deep politics a ...

* 7. Paul West * 8. F. George Steiner * 9. Lotte Zurndorfer * 10.

Martin Seymour-Smith Martin Roger Seymour-Smith (24 April 1928 – 1 July 1998) was a British poet, literary critic, and biographer. Biography Seymour-Smith was born in London and educated at Highgate School and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he was editor of ''Isi ...

* 11.

* 12. Adrienne Cecile Rich * 13. Michael Shanks * 14. Michael Raper * 15.

A. Alvarez Alfred Alvarez (5 August 1929 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, essayist and critic who published under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez. Background Alfred Alvarez was born in London, to an Ashkenazic Jewish mother and a ...

* 16.

(1954) * 17.

Anthony Thwaite Anthony Simon Thwaite (23 June 1930 – 22 April 2021) was an English poet and critic, widely known as the editor of his friend Philip Larkin's collected poems and letters. Early years and education Born in Chester, England, to Yorkshire par ...

(1953) * 18.

Arthur Boyars Arthur Boyars (28 May 1925 – 6 August 2017)Nicholas Jacobs ''The Independent'', 14 August 2017. was a British poet and musicologist, who was also a translator and critic, literary editor and publisher. His ''Poems'' were published in 1944 b ...

* 19.

* 20. Jonathan Price (1954) * 21.

(1954) * 22.

* 23. Richard Selig (1954) * 24.

Adrian Mitchell Adrian Mitchell FRSL (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Cam ...

(1954) * 25.

Edward Lucie-Smith John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...

(1954) * 26. John Holloway (1954) * 27. Richard Drain (1955) * 28. Laurence D. Lerner (1955) * 29. Daibhidh Michell (1955) * 30. H.S. Eveling * 31. Mark Holloway (1956) * 32. Richard Aldridge (1956) * 33. Kenneth Wood (1956) * 34. Dennis Keene (1957)"KEENE, Dennis 1934–"
Encyclopedia.com
/ref> * 35. Richard Kell (1957)

References

{{Reflist Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom