“In Railway Halls, on Pavements Near the Traffic”
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Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1965.
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culture · English poet and man of letters (1909–1995) · poet · writer · essayist · university teacher · journalist · literary critic · translator · also Stephen Spender, Sir Stephen Harold Spender, Sir Stephen Spender, Spender
Born 28 February 1909 · Died 16 July 1995 · Q448764
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2026· 4 entries
“Exiles From Their Land, History Their Domicile”
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“Tradition-Bound Literature and Traditionless Painting”
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The Guardian: Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender have a new party – but what does it stand for and who will join?
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2023· 1 entry
Their daughter, Elizabeth Spender, previously an actress, was married to the Australian actor and satirist Barry Humphries until his death in April 2023, and their son, Matthew Spender, was married to the daughter of the Armenian artist Arshile Gorky.
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2016· 1 entry
The Guardian: 2016 Stephen Spender prize for poetry in translation – the winners
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2015· 4 entries
The Guardian: Poet returns Stephen Spender prize after accusations of plagiarism
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The Guardian: Stephen Spender prize – a judges’s perspective
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The Guardian: A House in St John’s Wood by Matthew Spender review – a remarkable and moving family memoir
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The Guardian: 2015 Stephen Spender prize for poetry in translation – submit your entry
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2014· 1 entry
The Guardian: Scottish poet tastes success in Stephen Spender prize for poetry in translation
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2013· 1 entry
The Guardian: From the Observer archive, 25 March 1979: Stephen Spender on the art of name-dropping
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2012· 1 entry
The Guardian: Stephen Spender: New Selected Journals, 1939-1995, edited by Lara Feigel and John Sutherland, with Natasha Spender – review
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1995· 3 entries
Died 1995-07-16.
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“History is the ship carrying living memories to the future.”
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“Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.”
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1983· 1 entry
Awarded Knight Bachelor (1983).
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1982· 1 entry
Published by Thames and Hudson art publishers in London
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1977· 1 entry
Awarded Companion of Literature (1977).
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1971· 1 entry
Won King’s / Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry (1971).
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1962· 1 entry
Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1962).
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1961· 1 entry
Became professor of rhetoric at Gresham College, London
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1946· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate of the University of Montpellier (1946).
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1942· 2 entries
Joined the fire brigade of Cricklewood and Maresfield Gardens as a volunteer
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“An Elementary School Classroom In A Slum”
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1941· 2 entries
Spender married Natasha Litvin, a concert pianist
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Seems to have marked the end of his romantic relationships with men but not the end of all homosexual activity, as his unexpurgated diaries have revealed
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1936· 1 entry
Spender became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
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1934· 2 entries
“I find boys much more attractive, in fact I am rather more than usually susceptible, but actually I find the actual sexual act with women more satisfactory, more terrible, more disgusting, and, in fact, more everything”
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Spender had an affair with Muriel Gardiner
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1933· 1 entry
Fell in love with Tony Hyndman, and they lived together from 1935 to 1936
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1929· 1 entry
Which was not published until 1988, under the title The Temple
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1909· 1 entry
Born 1909-02-28.
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