W.S. Graham lived nearly all his working life in the far west of Cornwall and had little to do with literary circles, either in London or elsewhere. In the 1940s, he published three collections with small presses before T.S. Eliot took him on at Faber and Faber. He published two collections with them – The White Threshold (1949) and The Nightfishing (1955). After that, despite the good reception that The Nightfishing received, he seems to have been forgotten by his publishers. Another volume did not appear until 1970 even though Graham had been writing and publishing quite frequently in the intervening years. Nevertheless, that 1970 volume, Malcolm Mooney's Land, and its successor, Implements in their Places (1977), were notable successes and led to Graham's Collected Poems: 1942– 1977, published in 1979. On his death in 1986, he was widely mourned as ‘a poet of international stature’ and ‘the most important writer writing in England’ (ER75, pp. 100, 102).

Sixteen years later, these claims do not sound ridiculous or painfully dated. Graham's work has remained current. It has, if anything, gained in stature and extended its readership, particularly during the 1990s. Uncollected Poems was published in 1990 (by the Greville Press, Warwick); Aimed at Nobody, a selection of unpublished work from notebooks, appeared in 1993, and a Selected Poems appeared in 1996 (both from Faber). In the same year, Conductors of Chaos, an anthology of contemporary, experimental poetry edited by Iain Sinclair, included a selection from Graham, citing him as one of the major influences on and inspirations for these contemporary writers. And not only is Graham profoundly respected and admired, he is fondly remembered. The number of the Edinburgh Review devoted to him in 1987 contains vivid recollections of Graham the man – the performer, the friend, the drinker, the writer. These memories still survive undimmed.

Michael Snow has written a vivid memoir of W.S. Graham, published in Aquarius 25/26 (2002). This volume of the magazine is devoted to Graham himself and his contemporary George Barker.