‘A small, fierce being’: Jon Silkin, Isaac Rosenberg, and the definition of the Anglo-Jewish poet

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 Drawing heavily from Silkin’s unpublished correspondence, this article contributes to this revival by exploring his place within the post-1945 Anglo-Jewish community and his relationship to his Jewish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.