The ''Cambridge Literary Review'' (CLR) is a literary magazine published on an occasional basis. It is edited by Lydia Wilson, Rosie Šnajdr, Jocelyn Betts and Paige Smeaton and is run from Trinity Hall college at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was founded in 2009 by Boris Jardine and Lydia Wilson with assistance from the University's 800th anniversary fund. It publishes poetry, short fiction and criticism, and although its commitment to experimental and often difficult works is influenced by the 'Cambridge School' of poetry it has included contributions by writers from around the world and in many languages. It has received notice in ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''.

Volume I (issues 1–3)

The first two issues include: poetry by J. H. Prynne, John Wilkinson, John Kinsella, Keston Sutherland, Drew Milne, Andrea Brady, Nick Potamitis, Francesca Lisette,

Stephen Rodefer Stephen Rodefer (November 20, 1940 – August 22, 2015) was an American poet and painter who lived in Paris and London. Born in Bellaire, Ohio, he knew many of the early beat and Black Mountain poets, including Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Ch ...

Alice Notley Alice Elizabeth Notley (November 8, 1945 – May 19, 2025) was an American poet. Notley came to prominence as a member of the second generation of the New York School of poetry—although she always denied being involved with the New York Schoo ...

, Posie Rider,

Peter Riley Arthur Peter Riley (born 1940) is a contemporary English poet, essayist, and editor. Riley is known as a Cambridge poet, part of the group loosely associated with J. H. Prynne which today is acknowledged as an important center of innovative ...

, John James, Avery Slater, Alexander Nemser,

Geoffrey Hartman Geoffrey H. Hartman (August 11, 1929 – March 14, 2016) was a German-born American literary theorist, sometimes identified with the Yale School of deconstruction, although he cannot be categorised by a single school or method. Hartman spent mos ...

, Ray Crump, Sara Crangle, Ian K. Patterson, Rod Mengham, Anna Mendelssohn,

Debora Greger Debora Greger (born 1949) is an American poet as well as a visual artist. She was raised in Richland, Washington. She attended the University of Washington and then the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She then went on to hold fellowships at the Fine Art ...

, Marianne Morris,

Charles Madge Charles Henry Madge (10 October 1912 – 17 January 1996) was an English poet, journalist and sociologist, now most remembered as a founder of Mass-Observation. Philip Bounds, ''Orwell and Marxism: the political and cultural thinking of George O ...

; prose, fiction and essays are by Rosie Šnajdr, Helen MacDonald, Charles Lambert, Justin Katko, among others. CLR1 was dedicated to Cambridge writing, including a long section of essays dedicated to the topic by

Jeremy Noel-Tod Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), an English male given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a 1992 song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ...

, Andrew Duncan,

Elaine Feinstein Elaine Feinstein FRSL (born Elaine Cooklin; 24 October 1930 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator. She joined the Council of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Earl ...

Richard Berengarten Richard Berengarten (born 4 June 1943) is an English poet. Having lived in Italy, Greece, the US and the former Yugoslavia, his perspectives as a poet combine English, French, Mediterranean, Jewish, Slavic, American and Oriental influences. His ...

Robert Archambeau Robert Archambeau (18 April 1933 – 25 April 2022) was a Canadian ceramic artist and potter. He also had an academic career in post-secondary art studies. Personal history Born in Toledo, Ohio, United States, in 1933, he immigrated to Cana ...

, et al. Other essays are included by

Raymond Geuss Raymond Geuss, FBA (; born 1946) is an American political philosopher and scholar of 19th and 20th century European philosophy. He is currently Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge. Geuss is primarily known ...

on 'productive obscurity',

Stefan Collini Stefan Collini (born 6 September 1947)COLLINI, Prof. Stefan Anthony
''Who ...

on the study of the humanities, Rebecca Stott on historical fiction and

Philip Pettit Philip Noel Pettit (born 1945) is an Irish philosopher and political theorist. He is the Laurance Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values at Princeton University and also Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the Aust ...

on the now-defunct ''Cambridge Review''. This issue proved controversial, engaging the editors in correspondence with the ''Times Literary Supplement'' over comments by reviewer J.C. Similarly, a number of writers associated with Cambridge took up the claims of Robert Archambeau's essay; these responses were discussed on his blog, and a selection were published in CLR2. CLR3 was dedicated to the theme of 'translation', though the term was taken very loosely, the editors stating that the contents were "not so much straight translations, as meditations on or digressions from the manifold practices, protocols and theories of translation.". This issue featured new work from poets Anne Blonstein, Jonty Tiplady, Rich Owens, as well as translations from

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school. Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...

, Henri Deluy,

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

, and

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

. The prose and essay sections featured

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

Eric Hazan The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

, Jeremy Hardingham,

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

and Emily Critchley. A notable essay on the translation of difficult poetry by J. H. Prynne was published, alongside theoretical and historical studies by

Nick Jardine Nicholas Jardine FBA (born 4 September 1943) is a British mathematician, philosopher of science and its history, historian of astronomy and natural history, and amateur mycologist. He is Emeritus Professor at the Department of History and Philos ...

David Bellos David Bellos (born 1945) is a British academic, translator and biographer. He is the Meredith Howland Pyne professor of French and comparative literature at Princeton University in the United States,Lydia Davis Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes very short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of French literary classics ...

and others. Again the issue did not escape unfavourable comment in the N.B. column of the ''Times Literary Supplement''; however, in November 2010 Robert Potts discussed the CLR favourably and at length in his essay review concerning J. H. Prynne.

Volume II (issues 4–6)

CLR4 came out in late November, and contains new poetry by Jean Day, Lisa Robertson,

Rachel Blau DuPlessis Rachel Blau DuPlessis (born December 14, 1941) is an American poet and essayist, known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry. Her work has been widely anthologized. Early life DuPlessis w ...

and Vanessa Place (with a commentary by Emily Critchley), as well as by Simon Jarvis, Jesse Drury and John Wilkinson; prose and fiction is by

Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, recently within the influences of psychogeography. Early life and education Sinclair was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 11 June 1943. From 19 ...

, John Matthias and Lorqi Bilnk. CLR5 came out in July 2011 and was edited by Boris Jardine and Lydia Wilson. It contains a selection of American writers from the Greenwich Cross-Genre Festival (July 2010), edited and with a commentary by Emily Critchley, featuring: Catherine Wagner, Andrea Brady, Susana Gardner, Lee Ann Brown, Eleni Sikelianos, and Corina Copp (writing on the work of Jean Day). It also contains new poems from: Linus Slug, Ray Crump, Michael Haslam,

Peter Gizzi Peter Gizzi (born 1959 in Alma, Michigan) is an American poet, essayist, editor and teacher. He attended New York University, Brown University and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Life Gizzi was born in Alma, Michigan to an Italian ...

, James Russell, Timothy Thornton, Tomas Weber and Isabelle Ward. Fiction is provided by Valérie Mréjen, translated by Christopher Andrews, and R.F. Walker. Essays and reviews by

David Hendy Robert Hendy-Freegard (born Robert Freegard, 1 March 1971) is a British convicted conman and impostor who masqueraded as an MI5 agent, from his early 20s through his 30s, while working as a barman and car salesman. He is also known as David Hen ...

, Helen Macdonald,

Katrina Forrester Katrina Max Forrester (born 1986) is a British political theorist and historian, and the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University. Her research interests are in the history of liberalism and the left in the po ...

, Emma Hogan. There is also an interview of

by Xie Qiong and a re-publication of a rare

Donald Barthelme Donald Barthelme Jr. (pronounced ''BAR-thəl-mee''; April 7, 1931 – July 23, 1989) was an American short story writer and novelist known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for t ...

short story, ‘The Ontological Basis of Two’. CLR6 came out in June 2012 and was edited by Boris Jardine, Lydia Wilson, and Rosie Šnajdr. It contains poetry by

Rae Armantrout Rae Armantrout (born April 13, 1947) is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. She has published more than two dozen books, including both poetry and prose. Armantrout was awarded the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Aw ...

, Tom Graham,

Brenda Iijima Brenda is a feminine given name in the English language. Origin The overall accepted origin for the female name Brenda is the Old Nordic male name ''Brandr'' meaning both ''torch'' and ''sword'': evidently the male name Brandr took root in areas ...

, Rob Halpern, Joe Luna,

Samantha Walton Samantha is an English feminine given name in use since the 17th century that is of uncertain derivation. It is now in popular use worldwide due to various popular culture influences. Etymology Some etymologists have suggested Samantha might ...

, fiction by Spencer Thomas Campbell, and

Lydia Davis Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes very short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of French literary classics ...

, essays by John Wilkinson, Orla Polten,

, and Amy De'Ath, as well as a live performance extract by Lisa Jeschke and Lucy Beynon, and a work by

. The issue also reprinted

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...

's, 'B.B., or The Birthplace of Bonnes' and

Hope Mirrlees (Helen) Hope Mirrlees (8 April 1887 – 1 August 1978) was a British poet, novelist and translator. She is best known for the 1926 '' Lud-in-the-Mist'', an influential fantasy novel, David Langford and Mike Ashley, "Mirrlees, Hope", in David ...

', ‘Paris: a poem’.

Volume III (issues 7 and 8/9)

CLR7 came out in November 2013 and was edited by Lydia Wilson, Rosie Šnajdr and

. It contains poetry by David Wheatley, Drew Milne, Jesse Drury, and

Vahni Capildeo Vahni Anthony Ezekiel Capildeo (born Surya Vahni Priya Capildeo, 1973) is a Trinidad and Tobago-born British writer, and a member of the extended Capildeo family that has produced notable Trinidadian politicians and writers (including V. S. Nai ...

, drama by Ish Klein, fiction by Jennifer Thorp and Ian Holding, and essays by James R. Martin, Mikhal Dekel, Rosie Šnajdr, Robert Kiely and

. CLR8/9, the double-length 'Children's Issue', came out in April 2015 and was edited by Lydia Wilson, Rosie Šnajdr, Eve Tandoi, and

. It features poetry by

Tim Atkins Timothy Atkins is a British field hockey player. He plays for the Scotland men's national field hockey team and plays club hockey in the Men's England Hockey League for Old Georgians Hockey Club. He is also a type 1 diabetic working closely wit ...

Joshua Beckman Joshua Beckman is an American poet. Life Joshua Beckman was born in 1971 New Haven, Connecticut, and graduated from Hampshire College. He is the author of eight collections of poetry, including ''The Inside of an Apple'' (which was a finalist fo ...

, Andrea Brady and Ayla Ffytche,

Kamau Brathwaite Edward Kamau Brathwaite, CHB (; 11 May 1930 – 4 February 2020), was a Barbadian poet and academic, widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon.Staff (2011)"Kamau Brathwaite." New York University, Department of Co ...

, Ian Brinton, Hannah Brooks-Motl,

, Patrick Coyle, Michael Farrell,

, Edmund Hardy, Sophie Herxheimer,

Bernadette Mayer Bernadette Mayer (May 12, 1945 – November 22, 2022) was an American poet, writer, and visual artist associated with both the Language poets and the New York School (art), New York School. Early life and education Bernadette Mayer was born ...

, Chris McCabe, Sophie Seita, and Uljana Woolf. It contains a 'choose your own adventure' short story by Rosie Šnajdr. It contains essays by Clementine Beauvais, Nicholas B. Clark, Margaret R. Higonnet, Carrie Hintz, Robert Kiely,

Lisa Jarnot Isaac Jarnot (born 1967) is an American poet. He was born in Buffalo, New York and studied literature at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1994 he received an MFA in creative writing from Brown University. He has lived in San Franc ...

, Toby Mitchell, Eve Tandoi, Greg Thomas, and Ross Wolfe. It also re-prints

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

's essay 'Berlin Toy Tour II', translated by Jonathan Lutes, and

El Lissitzky El Lissitzky (, born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky , ; – 30 December 1941), was a Soviet Jewish artist, active as a painter, illustrator, designer, printmaker, photographer, and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant-garde, h ...

's ' A Supremacist Tale About Two Squares', colourful socialist propaganda for children. The issue received notice on ''

'' blog .

Volume IV (issues 10-12)

CLR10 came out in June 2016 and was edited by Lydia Wilson and Rosie Šnajdr. It features poetry by

Susan Howe Susan Howe (born June 10, 1937) is an American poet, scholar, essayist, and critic, who has been closely associated with the Language poets, among other poetry movements.

Eileen Myles Eileen Myles (born December 9, 1949) is an American poet and writer who has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. Novelist Dennis Cooper has des ...

Nathaniel Mackey Nathaniel Mackey is an American poet, novelist, anthologist, literary critic and editor. He is the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing at Duke University and a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Mackey is currently teachi ...

, Alex Houen,

Cole Swensen Cole Swensen (born 1955, in Kentfield, California) is an American poet, translator, editor, copywriter, and professor. Swensen was awarded a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and is the author of more than ten poetry collections and as many translations ...

, Luke Roberts, Rowan Evans, Ken Cockburn &

Alec Finlay Alec Finlay (born 14 March 1966) is a Scottish-born artist currently based in Edinburgh. He is a son of Sue Finlay and Ian Hamilton Finlay. Finlay's work takes various forms and media, including poetry, sculpture, collage, audio-visual, neon, and ...

, Jesse Drury, and Drew Milne. It contains essays by

J.H. Prynne Jeremy Halvard Prynne (born 24 June 1936) is a British poetry, British poet closely associated with the British Poetry Revival. Prynne grew up in Kent and was educated at St Dunstan's College, Catford, and Jesus College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow ...

, Hannah Brooks-Motl, Amy Bowles,

David Larsen David Larsen (born April 23, 1980) is an American stage actor. A 1998 graduate of Hillsboro High School, Larsen starred in many of its productions, including the title role in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. Larsen attended P ...

, Tala Jarjour, and

. It contains fiction by Jocelyn Paul Betts, Mika Seifert,

John Saul John Saul (born February 25, 1942) is an American author of suspense and horror novels. Most of his books have appeared on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. . Biography Born in Pasadena, Saul grew up in Whittier, California, and grad ...

, Robert Kiely, and Eley Williams. The issue was reviewed in ''

''.Lapointe, Michael
"Earthly Poems"
25 October 2017, Retrieved 18 May 2018.

References

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Literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Culture of the University of Cambridge Magazines established in 2009 Publications associated with the University of Cambridge Triannual magazines published in the United Kingdom Mass media in Cambridge