The Group (literature)
Encyclopedia
The Group was an informal group of poets who met in London
from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s. As a poetic movement in Great Britain
it is often seen as a being the successor to The Movement
.
while at Downing College, Cambridge University
, Philip Hobsbaum
along with two friends — Tony Davis and Neil Morris — dissatisfied with the way poetry was read aloud in the university, decided to place a notice in the undergraduate newspaper Varsity
for people interested in forming a poetry discussion group. Five others, including Peter Redgrove
came along to the first meeting. This poetry discussion group met once a week during term.
The London
meetings started in 1955
once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith
. The poets gathered to discuss each other's work, putting into practice the sort of analysis and objective comment in keeping with the principles of Hobsbaum's Cambridge tutor F. R. Leavis
and of the New Criticism
in general. Before each meeting about six or seven poems by one poet would be typed, duplicated and distributed to the dozen or so participants.
There was no manifesto as such. Lucie-Smith wrote, in a letter to Hobsbaum dated November 1961: 'This is a group of poets who find it possible to meet and discuss each other's work helpfully and without backbiting or backscratching…we have no axe to grind — this isn't a gang and there's no monolithic body of doctrine to which everyone must subscribe'.
The poets who met included George Macbeth
, Edward Lucie-Smith
, Philip Hobsbaum
, Peter Redgrove
, Alan Brownjohn
, Peter Porter
, Martin Bell
. Ted Hughes
occasionally attended.
in 1959
when Hobsbaum left London to study in Sheffield
. The meetings continued at his house in Chelsea, and the circle of poets expanded to include Fleur Adcock
, Taner Baybars, Edwin Brock
, and Zulfikar Ghose
; others including Nathaniel Tarn
circulated poems for comment.
Lucie-Smith and Hobsbaum edited A Group Anthology (London: Oxford University Press, 1963
); in the foreword the aim is described of writing 'frank autobiographical poems' and a 'poetry of direct experience'. In the anthology's epilogue Hobsbaum writes of the importance of discussion, and the writer's need for 'community to keep him in touch with his audience.'
Satire was prominent in the works of Bell, Brownjohn, and Porter.
in 1962 he established a similar group there, sometimes referred to as The Belfast Group
.
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s. As a poetic movement in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
it is often seen as a being the successor to The Movement
The Movement (literature)
The Movement was a term coined by J. D. Scott, literary editor of The Spectator, in 1954 to describe a group of writers including Kingsley Amis, Philip Larkin, Donald Davie, D.J. Enright, John Wain, Elizabeth Jennings, Thom Gunn, and Robert Conquest...
.
Cambridge
In November 19521952 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* November — The Group British poetry movement of the 1950s and 1960s began at Downing College, Cambridge University, Philip Hobsbaum along with two friends — Tony Davis and Neil Morris...
while at Downing College, Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Philip Hobsbaum
Philip Hobsbaum
Philip Dennis Hobsbaum was a British teacher, poet and critic.-Life:Hobsbaum was born into a Polish Jewish family in London, and brought up in Bradford, in Yorkshire. He read English at Downing College, Cambridge, where he was taught and heavily influenced by F. R. Leavis...
along with two friends — Tony Davis and Neil Morris — dissatisfied with the way poetry was read aloud in the university, decided to place a notice in the undergraduate newspaper Varsity
Varsity (Cambridge)
Varsity is the oldest of Cambridge University's main student newspapers. It has been published continuously since 1947, and is one of only three fully independent student newspapers in the UK. It appears every Friday around Cambridge...
for people interested in forming a poetry discussion group. Five others, including Peter Redgrove
Peter Redgrove
Peter William Redgrove was a prolific and widely respected British poet, who also wrote works with his second wife Penelope Shuttle on menstruation and women's health, novels and plays.-Life:...
came along to the first meeting. This poetry discussion group met once a week during term.
London
When Hobsbaum moved to London, the discussion group reconstituted itself there. It is this London group that is now referred to as The Group.The London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
meetings started in 1955
1955 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Group, a British poetry movement, starts meeting in London with gatherings taking place once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith...
once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith
Edward Lucie-Smith
John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith is a British writer, poet, art critic, curator, broadcaster and author of exhibition catalogues.-Biography:Lucie-Smith was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moving to the United Kingdom in 1946...
. The poets gathered to discuss each other's work, putting into practice the sort of analysis and objective comment in keeping with the principles of Hobsbaum's Cambridge tutor F. R. Leavis
F. R. Leavis
Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis CH was an influential British literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for nearly his entire career at Downing College, Cambridge.-Early life:...
and of the New Criticism
New Criticism
New Criticism was a movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. It emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of literature functioned as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic...
in general. Before each meeting about six or seven poems by one poet would be typed, duplicated and distributed to the dozen or so participants.
There was no manifesto as such. Lucie-Smith wrote, in a letter to Hobsbaum dated November 1961: 'This is a group of poets who find it possible to meet and discuss each other's work helpfully and without backbiting or backscratching…we have no axe to grind — this isn't a gang and there's no monolithic body of doctrine to which everyone must subscribe'.
The poets who met included George Macbeth
George MacBeth
George Mann MacBeth was a Scottish poet and novelist. He was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire.When he was three, his family moved to Sheffield....
, Edward Lucie-Smith
Edward Lucie-Smith
John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith is a British writer, poet, art critic, curator, broadcaster and author of exhibition catalogues.-Biography:Lucie-Smith was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moving to the United Kingdom in 1946...
, Philip Hobsbaum
Philip Hobsbaum
Philip Dennis Hobsbaum was a British teacher, poet and critic.-Life:Hobsbaum was born into a Polish Jewish family in London, and brought up in Bradford, in Yorkshire. He read English at Downing College, Cambridge, where he was taught and heavily influenced by F. R. Leavis...
, Peter Redgrove
Peter Redgrove
Peter William Redgrove was a prolific and widely respected British poet, who also wrote works with his second wife Penelope Shuttle on menstruation and women's health, novels and plays.-Life:...
, Alan Brownjohn
Alan Brownjohn
Alan Charles Brownjohn FRSL is an English poet and novelist.He was born in London and educated at Merton College, Oxford. He taught until 1979, when he became a full-time writer...
, Peter Porter
Peter Porter (poet)
Peter Neville Frederick Porter, OAM was a British-based Australian poet.-Life:Porter was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1929. His mother, Marion, died of a burst gall-bladder in 1938. He attended the Church of England Grammar School and left school at 18, and went to work as a trainee journalist...
, Martin Bell
Martin Bell (poet)
Martin Bell was a British poet.Bell was strongly influenced by T. S. Eliot and Jules Laforgue. He used complex ironies and was skilled at deflating by rhetorical devices. However, he was far from being a right-wing satirist....
. Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
occasionally attended.
Lucie-Smith
The chairmanship of the group passed to Edward Lucie-SmithEdward Lucie-Smith
John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith is a British writer, poet, art critic, curator, broadcaster and author of exhibition catalogues.-Biography:Lucie-Smith was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moving to the United Kingdom in 1946...
in 1959
1959 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* In the United States, "Those serious new Bohemians, the beatniks, occupied with reading their deliberately undisciplined, protesting verse in night clubs and hotel ballrooms, created more publicity...
when Hobsbaum left London to study in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. The meetings continued at his house in Chelsea, and the circle of poets expanded to include Fleur Adcock
Fleur Adcock
Kareen Fleur Adcock , CNZM, OBE is a poet and an editor of English and Northern Irish ancestry, who has lived much of her life in England.-Life and career:...
, Taner Baybars, Edwin Brock
Edwin Brock
Edwin Brock was a British poet. Brock wrote two of the best-known poems of the last century, Five Ways to Kill a Man and Song of the Battery Hen.-Early life:...
, and Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction, blending fantasy and harsh realism....
; others including Nathaniel Tarn
Nathaniel Tarn
Nathaniel Tarn is an American poet, essayist, anthropologist, and translator. He was born to a French mother and a British father. He lived in Paris until age 7, then in Belgium until age 11.-Education:...
circulated poems for comment.
Lucie-Smith and Hobsbaum edited A Group Anthology (London: Oxford University Press, 1963
1963 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 26 – Raghunath Vishnu Pandit, an Indian poet who wrote in both Konkani and Marathi languages, publishes five books of poems this day* The Belfast Group, a discussion group of poets in...
); in the foreword the aim is described of writing 'frank autobiographical poems' and a 'poetry of direct experience'. In the anthology's epilogue Hobsbaum writes of the importance of discussion, and the writer's need for 'community to keep him in touch with his audience.'
Satire was prominent in the works of Bell, Brownjohn, and Porter.
The Belfast Group
When Hobsbaum moved to BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
in 1962 he established a similar group there, sometimes referred to as The Belfast Group
The Belfast Group
The Belfast Group was a poets' workshop which was organized by Philip Hobsbaum when he moved to Belfast in October 1963 to lecture in English at Queen's University....
.
The Poets' Workshop
After the publication and publicity associated with the publication of the anthology, numbers attending the weekly meetings increased, and the meetings became unworkable. In 1965 the Group was restructured, and the more formal The Poets' Workshop was established under the influence of Martin BellMartin Bell (poet)
Martin Bell was a British poet.Bell was strongly influenced by T. S. Eliot and Jules Laforgue. He used complex ironies and was skilled at deflating by rhetorical devices. However, he was far from being a right-wing satirist....
.
Sources
- Garfitt, Roger, 'The Group' in British Poetry since 1960: A Critical Survey, Michael SchmidtMichael Schmidt (poet)Michael Schmidt is a Mexican-British poet, author and scholar. He studied at Harvard and at Wadham College, Oxford. He is currently Professor of Poetry at Glasgow University, where he is convener of the Creative Writing M.Litt programme...
, Grevel LindopGrevel LindopGrevel Lindop is an English poet, academic and literary critic.-Life:Lindop was born in Liverpool and studied at Wadham College, Oxford, where he read English. After two years of postgraduate research at Wadham and Wolfson Colleges, Oxford, he moved to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, where he...
editors, Carcanet, 1972, ISBN 0902145738. pages 13 – 69. - The Oxford Literary History, Volume 12, 1960 – 2000, The Last of England?, Oxford University Press, 2004
- Ousby, Ian (editor) Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English, Cambridge University Press, 1996
- Hobsbaum, Philip 'The Redgrove Momentum: 1952 – 2003' in The Dark Horse, Summer 2003