Radical Reads & Social Justice
Did you know that it's World Poetry Day on 21st March? To get you in the mood, I thought I would retrieve the words of some talented yet oft-overlooked 1930s poets from the Miscellany Pages archives...
Rating: 4 stars Category: Thriller, Crime Fiction Synopsis: The novel is set in 1930s Brighton, where the holiday amusements sit in stark contrast to a sinister gang underworld. Central to our view of this underworld is Pinkie, a boy of only 17 who orchestrates the killing of rival gang informer Fred. Little does he know that Fred had befriended the uncompromisingly righteous Ada, who is determined to see justice done. As he commits increasingly violent acts to protect himself and his fragile status, Pinkie is left spiralling further into a state of amorality and despair.
Have you heard of W.H. Auden? How about Stephen Spender, Louis MacNeice or George Barker? If your first reaction is 'who?', you're not alone. I did not recognise a single name from the collection of 1930s poetry when I began studying it this semester. The unique voices of these poets encapsulate the disillusion and hope of an entire generation, yet, sandwiched between the two World Wars, they are often overlooked. I thought about how I could champion the power of these poems, but nobody could do so better than the poets themselves. With that in mind, here are my top 10 quotes from the poetry of the 30s...
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