W. H. Auden is a giant of twentieth-century English poetry whose writings demonstrate a sustained engagement with the times in which he lived. But how did the century's shifting cultural terrain affect him and his work? Written by distinguished poets and scholars, these brief but authoritative essays offer a varied set of coordinates by which to chart Auden's continuously evolving career, examining key aspects of his environmental, cultural, political and creative contexts. Reaching beyond mere biography, these essays present Auden as the product of ongoing negotiations between himself, his time and posterity, exploring the enduring power of his poetry to unsettle and provoke. The collection will prove valuable for scholars, researchers and students of English literature, cultural studies and creative writing.
• Offers lively, up-to-date essays that both scholars and newcomers to Auden will find engaging and accessible • Features essays by authoritative writers, including contemporary poets as well as major scholars • Provides a complete portrait of Auden's life and times, offering helpful contextual models for engaging with Auden's poetry
Contents
Acknowledgements; List of contributors; A note on editions and abbreviations; Introduction Tony Sharpe; Part I. Contexts of Place: 1. Auden's northerliness Tony Sharpe; 2. Two cities: Berlin and New York Patrick Deer; 3. Ideas about England Stan Smith; 4. Ideas of America Aidan Wasley; 5. At home in Italy and Austria Justin Quinn; Part II. Social and Cultural Contexts: 6. Auden and the class system Adrian Caesar; 7. The Church of England: Auden's Anglicanism Tony Sharpe; 8. British homosexuality, 1920–1939 Gregory Woods; 9. American homosexuality, 1939–1972 Richard Bozorth; 10. Auden among women Janet Montefiore; 11. Auden and the American literary world Aidan Wasley; 12. Atlantic Auden Michael Wood; Part III. Political, Historical and Theoretical Contexts: 13. Communism and fascism in 1920s and 1930s Britain Matthew Worley; 14. Auden and wars Patrick Deer; 15. Auden and Freud: the psychoanalytic text John Boly; 16. Auden's theology Alan Jacobs; 17. In history Susannah Young-ah Gottlieb; Part IV. Creative Contexts (i): 18. The body Edward Mendelson; 19. The cinema Keith Williams; 20. 1930s British drama Steve Nicholson; 21. The documentary moment David Collard; 22. Travel writing Tim Youngs; 23. Auden and post-war opera Michael Symmons Roberts; (ii) Precursors and Contemporaries: 24. Earlier English influences Chris Jones; 25. Shakespeare Stephen Regan; 26. Yeats Michael O'Neill; 27. Eliot Hugh Haughton; 28. Some modernists in early Auden Gareth Reeves; 29. In German Rainer Emig; 30. Auden and Isherwood James J. Berg and Chris Freeman; Part V. The 'Most Professional' Poet: 31. Auden in prose Sean O'Brien; 32. Auden and little magazines Andrew Thacker; 33. Double take: Auden in collaboration Richard Badenhausen; 34. Auden and prosody Sean O'Brien; 35. Auden's forms Seamus Perry; Further reading; Index.
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