James Reeves: Selected Poems

About the book:

Although best known today as an editor, anthologist and award-winning writer of children’s verse, James Reeves (1909-1978) was also a prolific writer of adult poetry and was hailed by among others Robert Graves, Laura Riding, and Robert Nye as being one of the finest poets alive. In this new selection of his poetry – the first since his death – Reeves’ poetry can be reappraised as being amongst the most consistent and varied bodies of work of the twentieth century which masterfully combines straightforward readability with a profound and deeply philosophical way of viewing the world. At its heart lies a poet whose work encompassed satire, elegy, humour, and doubt yet was always underscored.

About the author:

James Reeves (1909-1978) was an English writer known mainly for his poetry, critical works, teaching guides, and as a collector of folk songs. He was also a well-known anthologist, broadcaster and editor, including important revelatory editions of John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins and John Clare.

Over the course of his writing career, Reeves produced eight volumes of verse and over 250 poems some of which became staples of school-anthologies. Underpinned by a philosophy he called ‘sub-song’ his verses challenge us to see the ordinary world in a different way.

John Howlett is a Lecturer in Education at Keele University. He is also a scholar and editor of nineteenth and twentieth century poetry, producing editions of the poems of Edmond Holmes (Farleigh Dickenson University Press, 2016), W.E. Henley (Sussex Academic Press, 2017) and Clere Parsons (Shoestring Press, 2017) as well as forthcoming books on Paul Dehn and John Pudney.

156 pages

ISBN: 978-1-910996-53-9