Kevin J. Gardner – författare

Sir John Betjeman was one of the twentieth century's great makers of the Christian imagination. He was maybe the most significant literary figure of our time to declare his Christian faith and his terror of dying. Betjeman used his formidable gifts for poetry to show us how to think about the Anglican faith and about Englishness and Christianity in general. Here is an anthology of about 75 poems on religious themes, with clarifying footnotes and a critical introduction that offers an overview of his life and poetry as well as a commentary on some of his more difficult poems. Here is a new perspective on Betjeman's life and beliefs. This new edition of Betjeman's religious poetry will demonstrate that Betjeman is the great poet of the Church in the twentieth century; it will also introduce delightful, accessible and important poetry to new readers. It will suggest to both British and American readers ways of thinking about spiritual cultural and ecclesiastical matters as well as about the intersection of literature and art.

The book represent a genuine and important discovery in the canon of Betjeman's poems, often considered closed with the publication of the "Complete Poems". Between 1953-57, John Betjeman read a series of poems on "The Faith in the West" program airing on the BBC's West of England Home Service. This series, called "Poems in the Porch", was so popular that Betjeman received constant requests to publish the poems. Although he deprecatingly referred to the poems as mere 'verses', Betjeman at last capitulated to the public. The result was a slim volume of six poems, entitled Poems in the Porch. What few people now realize is that Betjeman read at least 20 original poems on the radio in this series, perhaps even more, although owing to the haphazard records of both the BBC and Betjeman himself it is impossible to reconstruct with complete accuracy the history of this series. Kevin Gardner has been able to identify and collect 26 of these poems and has written a fascinating introductory essay recounting the story of Betjeman as a radio poet and discussing the artistry of these poems. Most have never been published and currently exist only in manuscript.Despite the gap between the BBC records on the one hand and the printed and manuscript texts on the other, Gardner has been able to construct a relatively reliable edition of "Betjeman's Poems in the Porch".

Between 1953-57, John Betjeman read a series of poems on 'The Faith in the West' program airing on the BBC's West of England Home Service.  This series, called 'Poems in the Porch,' was so popular that Betjeman received constant requests to publish the poems.  Although he deprecatingly referred to the poems as mere 'verses', Betjeman at last capitulated to the public.  The result was a slim volume of six poems, entitled Poems in the Porch.  What few people now realize is that Betjeman read at least 20 original poems on the radio in this series, perhaps even more, although owing to the haphazard records of both the BBC and Betjeman himself it is impossible to reconstruct with complete accuracy the history of this series.  Kevin Gardner has been able to identify and collect 26 of these poems and has written a fascinating introductory essay recounting the story of Betjeman as a radio poet and discussing the artistry of these poems.  Most have never been published and currently exist only in manuscript.  We know for certain of 20 occasions when Betjeman read his poems on the 'Faith in the West' program, and of these we know 16 specific titles.  Despite the gap between the BBC records on the one hand and the printed and manuscript texts on the other, Gardner has been able to construct a relatively reliable edition of Betjeman's Poems in the Porch.This book will cause a radical reassessment of his canon and will create great waved n the Betjeman community.

Sir John Betjeman was one of the twentieth century's great makers of the Christian imagination. He was maybe the most significant literary figure of our time to declare his Christian faith and his terror of dying. Betjeman used his formidable gifts for poetry to show us how to think about the Anglican faith and about Englishness and Christianity in general. Here is an anthology of about 75 poems on religious themes, with clarifying footnotes and a critical introduction that offers an overview of his life and poetry as well as a commentary on some of his more difficult poems.Here is a new perspective on Betjeman's life and beliefs. This new edition of Betjeman's religious poetry will demonstrate that Betjeman is the great poet of the Church in the twentieth century; it will also introduce delightful, accessible and important poetry to new readers. It will suggest to both British and American readers ways of thinking about spiritual cultural and ecclesiastical matters as well as about the intersection of literature and art.

A new collection of poems by well-known poets echoing the love of the parish church in the British literary memory.Nostalgia and love of parish churches is deeply embedded in the British psyche. Following the success of Poems in the Porch, a collection of hitherto unpublished poems on parish churches by Sir John Betjeman, Kevin Gardner has now assembled a new anthology of poems on the same theme yet with a greater diversity of post-war authors – Philip Larkin, R. S. Thomas, John Betjeman, C. Day Lewis, U. A. Fanthorpe and many others.The collection is introduced by a fascinating critical introduction, 'Anglican Memory and Post-war British Poetry' and will appeal to church and poetry lovers alike in their droves.

Nostalgia and love of parish churches is deeply embedded in the British psyche. Following the success of Poems in the Porch, a collection of hitherto unpublished poems on parish churches by Sir John Betjeman, Kevin Gardner has now assembled a new anthology of poems on the same theme yet with a greater diversity of post-war authors – Philip Larkin, R. S. Thomas, John Betjeman, C. Day Lewis, U. A. Fanthorpe and many others. The collection is introduced by a fascinating critical introduction, ''Anglican Memory and Post-war British Poetry'' and will appeal to church and poetry lovers alike in their droves.

A charming new collection of previously unpublished and uncollected poems by Sir John Betjeman.John Betjeman''s unforgettable poems on landscape and suburbia, desire and death, faith and doubt, helped to establish him as the beloved voice of a nation. Yet the ten books of poetry he published individually, later assembled in the Collected Poems, were an incomplete representation of his poetic oeuvre. Many poems published in journals or magazines were excluded from Betjeman''s books by him or his editors and a substantial number of finished poems were never printed at all, remaining unknown to readers – until now.In this exquisite new edition of Betjeman''s verse editor Kevin Gardner promises new treasures for ''Betj''s'' admirers the world over. Betjeman wrote many of these poems in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when he was still developing his unique poetic voice. They reveal a young poet experimenting with both Modernism and post-Romanticism, yet influenced by Shelley and Pope among others.Some of these poems are profoundly psychological, personal and deeply affecting to read today. Several have the delicate and eccentric touch of much of his early poetry and shed new light on his growth as a young poet, while many others reflect the sustained maturity of his later verse. Almost all are typically amusing and highly witty in the style typical of Betjeman; some verge on the bawdy and even, in one instance, point towards homosexuality.These charming and surprising new discoveries, found in archives as far apart as Austin, Texas, and Christ Church, Oxford, will delight poetry lovers and introduce a whole new generation to Betjeman''s unforgettable work.

A charming new collection of previously unpublished and uncollected poems by Sir John Betjeman.John Betjeman''s unforgettable poems on landscape and suburbia, desire and death, faith and doubt, helped to establish him as the beloved voice of a nation. Yet the ten books of poetry he published individually, later assembled in the Collected Poems, were an incomplete representation of his poetic oeuvre. Many poems published in journals or magazines were excluded from Betjeman''s books by him or his editors and a substantial number of finished poems were never printed at all, remaining unknown to readers – until now.In this exquisite new edition of Betjeman''s verse editor Kevin Gardner promises new treasures for ''Betj''s'' admirers the world over. Betjeman wrote many of these poems in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when he was still developing his unique poetic voice. They reveal a young poet experimenting with both Modernism and post-Romanticism, yet influenced by Shelley and Pope among others.Some of these poems are profoundly psychological, personal and deeply affecting to read today. Several have the delicate and eccentric touch of much of his early poetry and shed new light on his growth as a young poet, while many others reflect the sustained maturity of his later verse. Almost all are typically amusing and highly witty in the style typical of Betjeman; some verge on the bawdy and even, in one instance, point towards homosexuality.These charming and surprising new discoveries, found in archives as far apart as Austin, Texas, and Christ Church, Oxford, will delight poetry lovers and introduce a whole new generation to Betjeman''s unforgettable work.

The Interpretation of Owls is a representative selection of one of the UK's most prolific and respected poets. Edited by Kevin Gardner in consultation with John Greening himself, this first American collection showcases highlights of a remarkable forty-year poetic journey, displaying extraordinary variety and technical skill.The contents (arranged thematically to illustrate Greening's abiding interests and influences) comprise more than 250 poems chosen from twenty individual collections published between 1982 and the present. Kevin Gardner has also made a welcome selection of previously uncollected and unpublished work. Readers of John Greening's accessible and musical lines will find themselves transported from America to England to Iceland to Ireland, with a long stay in Egypt and brief stopovers in several other countries.Passing from the present to the ancient world and back, these poems reimagine historical figures, look inward at the poetic self, and explore the very meaning of home. This outward journeying through time and space is reinforced by a constant questing for spiritual meaning—reminiscent of T. S. Eliot, whose influence on Greening has been profound. Though we are unlikely to find him wrestling with angels, Greening is nevertheless constantly hoping for revelation, attuned to the numinous, treating creation as sacred, and ready to find a world of spirituality in history, myth, or even a lump of East Anglian clay.The Interpretation of Owls features an author's preface, an editor's introduction, two indexes, and for readers who want to experience the work in its order of original publication, a chronological table of contents. Additionally, there is an invaluable new interview with the poet in which he discusses with the editor the background to some of the works.

Anthony Thwaite (1930–2021) was one of the most formidable voices in postwar English letters. Deeply esteemed by fellow poets and critics for his original and technically controlled poetry, Thwaite composed in traditional forms, with orderly stanzas, rhyme schemes, and metrical lines that scan. His voice was highly personal, cautiously intimate, and often witty, and he wrote with a gratifying clarity and freedom from abstraction, making him among the most accessible of modern poets. At the Garden's Dark Edge is a collection of a hundred of Thwaite's poems, selected from a span of more than sixty years, exploring his major themes and recurring topics—among them, the consolations of domestic life, the pleasures of language and creativity, and the many humans and other animals in his life. He was inspired by travel and life abroad—most notably Libya, Japan, and the American South—and his poems deeply engage the individuals and cultures he encountered. A lifelong archaeologist, Thwaite also explored the ruins of the past and what we may recover by exploring it. Intriguingly, his work also faces life's most vexing questions from the perspective of a serious Christian faith.This volume contains several poems that have never been reprinted or collected, and one that has never before been published. By making his work more accessible than ever before, At the Garden's Dark Edge aims to introduce Anthony Thwaite to a new generation of readers and preserve his legacy for future generations. A preface by playwright and novelist Michael Frayn accompanies an editor's introduction.

A household name in Great Britain, John Betjeman was a public literary figure who openly declared his Christian faith and championed the social and aesthetic joys of Anglicanism as unique to English identity. Through poetry in newspapers and on radio and television broadcasts, Betjeman celebrated the cultural significance of the Church of England well beyond its religious role. Although a steadfast proponent for Christianity and the Church, Gardner explains, Betjeman nevertheless struggled mightily to believe the faith, and he was forthcoming with his own spiritual failures. In this master study of his writings, Gardner deems Betjeman to be the poet of the Church of England--and demonstrates his works to be a vital part of Anglicanism's living traditions.