'A small, fierce being': Jon Silkin, Isaac Rosenberg, and the definition of the Anglo-Jewish poet. Issue 5 (4th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Copley, Hannah
• Is Part Of: Textual practice. Volume 36:Issue 5(2022)
• Page Start: 693
• Page End: 710
• Publication Date: 2022-05-04
• Subjects: Jon Silkin -- Isaac Rosenberg -- contemporary poetry -- Jewish poetry -- war poetry -- British poetry; Literature, Modern -- 20th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Criticism -- Periodicals; Criticism, Textual -- Periodicals; Semiotics -- Periodicals; 801.95
• DOI: 10.1080/0950236X.2020.1839954
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-236X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Despite being 'one of the most distinctive and distinguished of those British poets who began to publish in the 1950s', the writer, editor, critic, and translator Jon Silkin remains a largely forgotten figure in contemporary poetry. However, with the publication his Complete Poems in 2015 and the availability of his archive, there has been a renewed critical interest in the charismatic, prolific, and contentious poet. Drawing heavily from Silkin's unpublished correspondence, this article contributes to this revival by exploring his place within the post-1945 Anglo-Jewish community and his relationship to his Jewish identity and cultural heritage. In particular, it investigates how the First World War poet (and fellow Anglo-Jew) Isaac Rosenberg became a vital means through which Silkin articulated his poetic identity as one caught between two hyphenated cultures and histories and defined his relationship with his Anglo-Jewish contemporaries.