The first issue

Poetry and Audience

Exploring the evolving design of the pioneering Poetry and Audience magazine. An online exhibition from Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Poetry and Audience 6th November, 1953. Editor: Ralph Maud. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Hubert Dalwood's logo

Poetry and Audience 11th October 1957. Editor: James Simmons. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

The circle cover design

Poetry and Audience 6th October, 1961. Editor: Ben Sherriff. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

An experimental pamphlet cover

Poetry and Audience Pamphlets Number 2: Poems by John Quail. 1965/66/69. Editor: Roderick Wilson.. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

The design continues to evolve

Poetry and Audience 29th November, 1963 Editor: Jeffrey Wainwright. 1965/66/69. Editor: Roderick Wilson.. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Stencilled lettering for volume 13

Poetry and Audience 15th October, 1965. Editor: Brian Oxley. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Precision line work and impressionistic styles clash in volume 20

Poetry and Audience Volume 20 Issue 2. Editor: Brian Oxley. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Mary Outram's illustration in volume 23

Poetry and Audience Volume 23 Issue 1. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Andy Arnold’s satirical cover design for volume 26

Poetry and Audience Volume 26 Issue 1. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

The Grass’s Time by John Glover, Northern House

Northern House Pamphlet Poets: The Grass's Time

Poetry and Audience The Grass’s Time. One of a selection of cover pages from the magazine Poetry and Audience, part of the archives held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

Founded by international student and editor Ralph Maud and publishing its first issue on 6th November 1953, Poetry and Audience magazine was the epitome of the 'little poetry magazine'.

Without even a cover page, the title is handwritten in capitals at the top, and the rest of the page is dedicated to what matters most: the poetry, highlighting the exclusively undergraduate Editorial board.

The issue established the magazine's regionalism in Maud's dialect poem 'Chill words to a lackadaisical courting man' alongside its commitment to retain a sense of poetic perspective with contributions from John Heath-Stubbs, the Gregory Fellow at the time.

With its small size, weekly production, handmade cyclostyled pages and price of one penny, the magazine aimed, as the editorial states here 'to be serious about poetry – without being "damn solemn" (as Hemingway once said)'.

CLASSMARK: University of Leeds, A-0.01 POE

Ralph Maud