- Geoffrey Phibbs
Geoffrey Phibbs (
Norfolk ,1900-Dublin , 1956) was an Irish poet; he took his mother's name and called himself Geoffrey Taylor, after about 1930. He was brought up inSligo , and educated atHaileybury [Terence Brown, "Ireland's Literature: Selected Essays" (1988), p. 142.] .In 1924 he married the artist
Norah McGuinness .The poetry collection "The Withering of the Fig Leaf" (1927) was to be published by the
Hogarth Press . At the last moment Phibbs became concerned about perceived anti-Catholic sentiment in it, and askedLeonard Woolf to withdraw it. [ [http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/hogarth/comercl.htm Hogarth Press: Commercial ] ] . Another collection, "It Was Not Jones", was issued by Hogarth in 1928, but under the pseudonym R. Fitzurse. [Brown, p. 143.]Also in 1928
Robert Graves visited him inSligo [ [http://www.ballylickeymanorhouse.com/history/ Ballylickey Manor House ] ] ; in 1929 Phibbs came to London, and his arrival unbalanced the "menage" of Graves, his wifeNancy Nicholson andLaura Riding . There are many accounts, generally contested, of subsequent events.After some confusion, Graves and Riding were together in Spain, Phibbs and Nicholson were together in
Wiltshire ; and Phibbs in 1929 divorced McGuinness.In 1935 he married Mary Dillwyn, and in 1940 returned to Ireland [Brown, p. 145.] . He was subsequently known mostly for anthologies, and non-fiction writing. As literary editor of "The Bell", he gave significant space to poetry from Northern Ireland [Malcolm Ballin, "Regionalism and Realism in the Bell", p. 91, in Patricia A. Lynch, Joachim Fischer, Brian Coates, "Back to the Present: Irish Writing and History Since 1798"(2006).] , and allowed
Roy McFadden a critical voice [ [http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/Mc/McFadden,R/life.htm Roy McFadden ] ] . His selection, "Irish Poems of Today: Chosen from the First Seven Volumes of "The Bell", appeared in 1944. In the same period he met and struck up a strong friendship withJohn Betjeman ["John Betjeman Letters: Volume One: 1936 to 1951", p. 270.] ; they worked on several poetry collections.Notes
External links
* [http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/t/Taylor,G/life.htm Eirdata page]
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