Stephen Spender (1909-95) is chiefly remembered as one of the younger English poets of the 1930s, his name always linked with that of his friend W. H. Auden, and with Auden’s literary “gang” including Louis MacNeice, C. Day Lewis and the novelist Christopher Isherwood. His poetic reputation came to be eclipsed by Auden’s, Spender himself as critic and memoirist being a co-creator of the Auden legend. Spender’s literary career in fact long outlasted the Thirties, his work as a poet (including verse drama and translation) dwindling in favour of prose reportage, fiction, autobiography and criticism. He came to regard all his writings as essentially autobiographical. Spender also occupied influential positions in literary journalism and as an academic, cultural ambassador and campaigner in defence of persecuted authors.
He was born in London on 28 February 1909,...
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Citation: Baldick, Chris. "Stephen Spender". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 November 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4170, accessed 09 June 2026.]
