<p>Poetry magazines are a reflection of the trends and the pressures of their ages: such was the case with Howard Sergeant's Outposts. Howard Sergeant was the longest continuous editor of a single literary magazine in the English language. Founded in 194) under the pressures of the Second World War, Outposts continued under his editorial direction until ill-health forced him to relinquish the reins in 1986.</p> <p>Between 1944 and 1986, Sergeant and Outposts played a key role in many of the major trends, groups and movements that shaped modern British poetry. Begun as a poetry and critical journal with a wartime "Apocalyptic'' slant, Sergeant's Outposts evolved through the changes which encompassed the Nee-Romantics, the Personalists, The Movement, the Mavericks, The Group, the pop poets, and the Martians and Narrative poets of the Eighties.</p> <p>Sergeant was among the first to recognize these changes in British poetry, and his magazine is a crosssection of the currents and counter-currents of the period. His major accomplishments include the founding of the British Poetry Association with Dorothy Wellesley and Siegfried Sassoon, his recognition and promotion of Commonwealth poetry (which launched the first Commonwealth movement in Britain), and his support of poets in the earliest stages of their development as a judge for the Gregory Awards with Herbert Read, T.S. Eliot, Henry Moore, and Philip Larkin. Among the key figures whose relationships to Sergeant are discussed are Muriel Spark, Earle Birney, Kingsley Amis, Seamus Heaney, Peter Redgrove, Dannie Abse, and D.M. Thomas.</p> <p>Set in the context of forty years of highly charged activity on the British poetry scene, Sergeant's story is one of prudence, critical intelligence, and perseverance. As a poet, editor, and critic, Sergeant's role in British poetry is examined and discussed, and his contributions to the art are weighed against the achievements of those he assisted.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/14191 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | Meyer, Miller Bruce |
| Contributors | John, B., English |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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