Spender, Stephen
BIRTH: 28 February, 1909, Campden House Court, London, England
DEATH: 16 July, 1995, St. John’s Wood, London, England
DISCIPLINE: Literature
FIELD: Poetry
ASSESSMENT: He contributed to political and social thought and public attitudes towards bisexuality during the 20th century, particularly during his peak years of the 1930’s-1950’s.
LANGUAGE: English
EDUCATION: Gresham’s Preparatory School, Charlcote Boarding School, University College School, University College Oxford
ACHIEVEMENT: ‘World Within World’
MAJOR-WORK: ‘World Within World’
DETAILS:
Spender’s father and uncle were political journalists, his mother was a published poet, and his grandmother was a Victorian novelist, so from a young age Spender experienced writing as a form of self expression. Spender grew up in Sheringham, on the Norfolk Coast, in financially comfortable circumstances but he felt overshadowed by his older brother Michael and his sickly mother. He was sent to Gresham’s Boarding School in 1917 but was forced to return home in 1920 because he was considered “backward.” He was then sent to Charclote Boarding School but returned home when his mother died during surgery in 1921. The following year he attended University College School where he published his first poems in the school newspaper and was introduced to socialism by one of his masters. He was increasingly influenced by the work of D.H. Lawrence*.
Spender left University College School in 1926 after the death of his father. In 1927 he entered University College, Oxford, where he took a degree in politics, philosophy, and economics. In 1928 he met W.H. < pal of > Auden* for the first time and published a small booklet of Auden’s work on a hand-press, as well as the first collection of his own poetry, ‘Nine Experiments.’ He formed life-long friendships with fellow-poets Christopher < pal of > Isherwood*, Cecil Day Lewis, and Louis < pal of > Macniece*.
Spender traveled to Hamburg for a vacation in 1929. When he returned to Oxford he published another collection of poetry titled ‘Twenty Poems.’ ‘Twenty Poems’ was so well received that T.S. Eliot invited Spender to contribute to The Criterion. After failing his final exams, in 1930 Spender decided to go to Germany where he wrote his memoir ‘The Temple.’ In 1933 he settled in Maida Vale and formed friendships with many in the Bloomsbury set who were later to become subjects in his memoir, ‘World Within World,’ including Lady Ottoline Morrell*, Virginia Woolf*, and W.B. Yeats*. He also met the German architect Walter Gropius,* who had fled Berlin as Hitler’s power increased.
Between 1935 and 1936, Spender and his partner Tony Hyndman moved to Portugal with Isherwood and his partner, to try communitarian living. After the arrangement failed, Hyndman and Spender parted ways. Spender met a postgraduate student at Oxford named Inez Maria Pearn and fell in love. They were married in December of 1936.
In response to the Civil War in Spain and the growth of fascism in Germany, Spender published the book ‘Forward from Liberalism’ in 1937. ‘Forward from Liberalism’ caught the attention of the Communist Party, which tried to recruit Spender to be a public voice. After a trip to Spain he became a party member but almost immediately became disillusioned. He found that Hyndman, who had joined the International Brigade in Spain after their separation, had deserted and was arrested. Through his influence, Spender succeeded in getting Hyndman released, but in the process he destroyed his marriage. He also produced many anti-war poems and became a delegate to the second international congress of writers in Madrid. He ceased to be a member of the Communist Party. In ‘World Within World’ he recounted meeting Ernest Hemingway* and André Malraux* during his time in Spain.
After returning to England, Spender dabbled in theater, painting, and published another acclaimed collection: ‘The Still Centre.’ During this time Spender was photographed by his friend Henry Moore*. In 1939, Inez left him for the poet Charles Madge. Spender co-founded the literary magazine Horizons in 1940. Soon afterwards he met pianist Natasha Litvin and married her the following year. He joined the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1941. He was transferred to the Foreign Office political intelligence department in 1944. In 1945 Natasha gave birth to their first son, Matthew.
When peace came, Spender joined the control commission to help rebuild Germany. Following that he joined UNESCO as a literary counselor until 1947, when he was invited to teach at Sarah Lawrence College in New York State. After the school year ended, Spender toured the U.S., lecturing and writing. He stayed in New Mexico for part of 1948, writing ‘World Within World,’ a political memoir that became a best seller when it was published in 1951.
In 1949 he published a collection of poetry: ‘The Edge of Being.’ It was panned and Spender resolved not to publish another. He co-founded the literary magazine ‘Encounter’ in 1953 and his collected poems were published in 1955.
Spender increasingly became involved in activities outside writing, primarily teaching. In 1959, he held a chair at the University of California at Berkley. In 1963 he accepted a teaching post at Northwestern University, in Chicago. In 1962, he was awarded a CBE. He was a poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1965-1966 and delivered a series of published lectures at Cambridge, on British and American Literature. In 1970, Spender took a chair at University College London. In 1971, he helped campaign for an Index on Censorship. In 1977 he was made a companion of literature by the Royal Society of Literature. In 1979 he published another book: ‘The Thirties and After.’ He was knighted in 1983. His ‘Journal 1939-1983’ was published in 1986. In 1995 he died of heart failure at his home in London.
Spender is most remembered for his political consciousness and sexuality. His relationships with both men and women inspired his poetry and memoirs. The homosexual content of ‘The Temple’ originally made it un-publishable in the United Kingdom. His literary exploration of socialism, Marxism, communism, and the class struggle are recognized as a snapshot of 1930s political thought. Spender also provided a record of many of the prominent figures he knew.
ONELINER: Stephen Spender, modern British poet
EXTRA-CONNECTIONS:
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
John Sutherland, ‘Spender, Sir Stephen Harold (1909–1995)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/view/article/57986, accessed 11 June 2007]
A Short Biography of Stephen Harold Spender
http://www.stephen-spender.org/SSpender/_poet_bio.htm
Ernest Hilbert, ‘Stephen Spender’ BoldType 2002
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0301/spender/essay.html
AUDIO/VISUAL:
http://www.stephen-spender.org
The Stephen Spender memorial trust contains portraits of Spender in different times of his life, a short biography, and a bibliography.
PARENTS: Edward Harold Spender and Violet Hilda Schuster
SPOUSE: Inez Maria Pearn, Natasha Litvin
SIBLINGS: Michael, Christine, and Humphrey
CHILDREN: Matthew