Spender, Sir Stephen Harold

(1909-1995)

   The son of journalist, he was brought up in London and educated at University College School, London, and at University College, Oxford. His book The Thirties and After (1979) recalls the outspoken Oxford literary figures and others prominent in the arts and politics, and his Journals 1939-1983, published in 1986, is a detailed account of his times and contemporaries. He edited Horizon magazine from 1939 to 1941 and Encounter magazine from 1953 to 1967. During World War II Spender was a member of the National Fire Service. He taught at various U.S. institutions, accepting the Elliston Chair of Poetry at Cincinnati University in 1953, and was the first non-American to serve as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, a position he held for one year. In 1970 he was appointed professor of English at University College, London, and professor emeritus in 1977. He was knighted in 1983. He published his autobiography, World Within World, in 1951. Some of his poetry publications: Poems of Dedication, 1936. Collected Poems, 1928-1953, 1955. The Generous Days, 1971. Some of his poems: "Abrupt and charming mover," "Auden's Funeral," "The Conscript."

   Sources: Collected Poems of Stephen Spender. Faber and Faber, 1985. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Microsoft Encarta 2006 (DVD). Microsoft Corporation, 2006. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Antaeus Antholog y. Daniel Halpern, ed. Bantam Books, 1986. The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature. Byrne R.S. Fone, ed. Columbia University Press, 1998. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).