Poetry and Publishing in the Long 1960s

This Element examines how late-modernist poetics intersected with the material realities of the book trade. It illuminates the publishing cultures that sustained late-modernist poetry, and the history and ultimate retreat of 1960s cultural optimism.

This Element examines how late-modernist poetics intersected with the material realities of the book trade. The first section looks at the publication of Geoffrey Hill by André Deutsch, a trade publisher issuing poetry alongside a general list. The publication of David Jones by Fulcrum Press, an independent start-up specialising in poetry, is the subject of the second section. The third section turns to the postcolonial picture, focussing on the posthumous publication of Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo in Heinemann's African Writers Series while the Biafran War raged. The last section looks at Cape Goliard, a unique attempt to embed a small press within a major publishing house. Situating these ventures within broader histories of modernism, postcolonialism, and transatlantic exchange and bringing new archival evidence to light, Poetry and Publishing in the Long 1960s illuminates the publishing cultures that sustained late-modernist poetry, and the history and ultimate retreat of 1960s cultural optimism.