A Quiet Centenary for an Enduring Poet

by Dermot McEvoy, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 2/21/2007

W.H. Auden was born into the serene certainty of Edwardian England on February 21 one hundred years ago. His life, split almost equally between Britain and his adopted country, America, displayed all the chaos of the 20th century.

Since 1934 Auden's adult poetry has been published exclusively in the U.S. by Random House (and now its subsidiaries, Vintage and Modern Library). "Every publisher worth his salt has to publish poetry," proclaimed Bennett Cerf, Random's founder, in his memoir At Random, "even some that he knows he's going to lose money on." Although Random has probably not lost any money publishing Auden for the past 73 years—unfortunately, no sales records for the entire publishing history are available—Cerf's final words on Auden proved to be prophetic: "There is more demand for Auden than for most poets, year after year."

Edward Mendelson is Auden's literary executor, a job he described as "preparing new editions of Auden's work, cooperating with researchers and scholars, answering questions about Auden that arrive from all over the world, and generally trying to keep his work available to anyone who might want to read it."

PW asked Mendelson if the literary tug-of-war over Auden between the U.K. and the U.S. is still in full force. "This old dispute seems to be mostly over by now," he said. "Readers on either side of the Atlantic who prefer Auden's early poetry—before he left for America in 1939—tend to think of him as British; readers on either side of the Atlantic who prefer his later poetry tend to think of him as American.

Auden's Collected Poems are published by Modern Library and his newly issued Selected Poems (with 20 poems added) by Vintage. "The Collected Poems represents Auden's final revisions and includes only the poems that, in his later years, he wanted to preserve," said Mendelson, differentiating between the two volumes. "As a result, it omits famous poems such as 'September 1, 1939' and 'Spain,' and it includes revised versions of poems that are well-known in earlier versions. The Selected Poems includes the most famous of the poems that he rejected in later years, and prints the original versions of poems that he heavily revised. Both books are intended for any readership, academic or not, but because the Selected is more likely to be used in schools and colleges, and is partly intended as an introductory volume, it includes a long introduction and some explanatory notes."

Although Random is thought of as Auden's primary publisher, Princeton University Press publishes six Auden titles, including The Complete Works of W.H. Auden, Volumes One and Two (Volume Three is due in late 2007), which includes essays, lectures, plays as well as newly redacted versions of all the poetry. Princeton also publishes Juvenilia: Poems, 1922-1928.And the audience for these works? "The complete works editions are primarily for an institutional market and libraries," said PUP editor Hanne Winarsky. "But the volumes are also bought by enthusiasts as they become available. That's one reason we've done some things out of the complete works series, such as Lectures on Shakespeare and Juvenilia—these are newly published works that general readers want to see."

As part of the promotion for the Selected Poems, Mendelson will be taking part in a five-city tour. He will also be part of Yale University's February 21 event and the 92nd Street Y's panel in New York City on March 5.

"Auden's centennial will probably be a low-keyed affair," mused Mendelson, "because the kind of reader who most admires Auden tends to be someone who isn't especially interested in organizing big events and would prefer to express their admiration for him by reading his work in private. And that is what I hope these new editions will be used for."

“A Tribute to W.H. Auden” will be held on Monday, March 5 at 8 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center, 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, New York City. Tickets are $18 (Box Office: www.92Y.org/poetry, 212-415-5500). Guests will include Shirley Hazzard, J.D. McClatchy, Edward Mendelson, Ned Rorem, Charles Rosen and Oliver Sacks. Archival recordings of Auden reading his poetry at the 92nd Street Y will be played at the event. Questions should be referred to Emily Gewitz at 212-415-5455 or egewitz@92Y.org.

This article originally appeared in the February 21, 2007 issue of PW Daily. For more information about PW Daily, including a sample and subscription information, click here »

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