Bell, Martin

(1918-1978)

   Born in Southampton, a graduate of Southampton University, and founding member of "The Group." He was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He was a Gregory Fellow at Leeds University 1967 to 1969, and part-time lecturer at Leeds College of Art; he also wrote under the pseudonym "Titus Oates." His first successful poem was a translation of Gérard de Nerval's sonnet "El Desdichado," written while serving with the Royal Engineers in Italy during the war. His Collected Poems 1937-1966 (1967) celebrates famous people and satirizes patriotism and religions. Some of his other poems: "David Guest," "Ode to Groucho," "Reasons for Refusal," "Senilio Passes, Singing," "Senilio's Weather Saw," "Winter Coming On."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. 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 Faber Book of War Poetry. Kenneth Baker, ed. Faber and Faber, 1996. The Martin Bell Papers. The University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections (www.lib.utulsa.edu/Speccoll/bellm00.htm). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.