Stephen Spender is the last of the great British poets of the "Thirties". This group, lead[sic] by W H. Auden, used their art as an expression of political sympathy and solidarity with the oppressed and impoverished. Now spanning more than five decades, Spender's work--including The Still Centre and Collected Poems--has earned him both popular praise and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. Although first a poet, Spender has made landmark contributions to literary criticism, prose fiction, political theory, and autobiography.
Stephen Spender, the first book-length study of the entire Spender canon, discusses all genres of the author's work. Sanford Sternlicht begins by providing the reader with a well researched, biographical sketch of the poet's development over several decades. He also includes a lengthy and insightful discussion of Spender's influential role as literary and political critic. By treating this multifaceted writer's craft, philosophy, politics, aesthetics, and sexuality in a Modernist context, the book fully illustrates Spender's place in the British literary pantheon.