F.T. Prince Centenary Symposium Event

F.T. Prince was one of Southampton's first Professors in English, taking up his post in 1957. An important Milton scholar in his day, he is increasingly being recognised as one of the most significant twentieth-century British poets. He was first published by T.S. Eliot in the 1930s, when his work drew plaudits from W.H. Auden and E.M. Forster; more recently, Geoffrey Hill and John Ashbery have acknowledged him as a major influence.
On 20 September 2012, the Centre for Modern and Contemporary Writing (CMCW) honoured his centenary with a one-day symposium, bringing together poets and critics from the around the world to celebrate his work. The event featured contributions from Derek Attridge, Mark Ford, David Kennedy and Adam Piette alongside poetry readings by Lee Harwood and John Haynes (see the  right-hand sidebar for a link to video footage). The day was co-organised with Peter Robinson from the University of Reading.

The symposium also saw the opening of a major new archive of Prince's letters, journals and notebooks at Hartley Library. The archive features correspondence by Auden, Forster, and Eliot as well as unpublished poems by Prince, and will make a major contribution to our understanding of twentieth-century British and American poetry. An exhibition from the Special Collections archive was held at Hartley Library from 3 - 28 September 2012.

Follow the links on the right for video of the conference's four sessions: on remembering Prince (contributors Eleanor Crawforth, Alka Nigam, and Anthony Rudolf); on Prince's style and metrics (contributors Derek Attridge, Gareth Farmer, Todd Swift, and Michael Molan); on bodies in Prince's poetry (contributors David Kennedy, Adam Piette, and Peter Robinson); on lyric and legacy (contributors Natalie Pollard, David Herd, and Lee Harwood).

Useful links:

Prince and the 60:60 celebrations  [ http://60.southampton.ac.uk/the-poetry-of-f-t-prince/51 ]

Follow this link to hear an interview with F.T. Prince in 1978 by Susan Howe .