Event overview
Goldsmiths Literature Seminar
Patrick Davidson Roberts (Goldsmiths)
'I carried the poetry magazine virus in my blood, but I had never let it rage untreated. Ian [Hamilton] was seriously infected' (John Fuller, 1999).
Julian Barnes commented in his 2011 Booker Prize Press Conference that ‘the literary pages certainly seem to be thinner than they were’. While he was referring largely to the review pages of broadsheet newspapers, this draws attention to the decline of the literary magazine and journal – the ‘little magazine’ of the past. While any bookshop will boast a range of fairly expensive (£5-£10) half-glossy magazines, the influence and editorial identity of the literary magazine has certainly deteriorated to the point of terminal concern.
The twentieth century was marked by a succession of literary magazines and editors who, as Ian Hamilton (himself an editor of high importance and result) put it, despite the small size of their publications had ‘arrestingly large-scale ambitions.’ Several of these editors – Geoffrey Grigson with New Verse, Cyril Connolly with Horizon, Hamilton with The Review and The New Review – had a profound effect on the literature and culture of their time.
Why, then, has the little magazine declined so much? This paper will consider the legacy of the twentieth century’s literary periodicals, the challenges they faced, the responsibilities of their editors, and the effect that these magazines and figures had.
Having recently set up a little magazine himself – of the traditional format (paper, ink) – Patrick Davidson Roberts will also consider the difficulties inherent in modern journals, their competition with both the popular press, the internet and the academy, and what this may mean for the future of the little magazine.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Jan 2014 | 6:30pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
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