Add MS 88907

The bulk of the archive comprises papers relating to Tambimuttu's role as editor (1939-1949) of the journal Poetry London and to his editorship of the related imprint Editions Poetry London (publishers, Nicholson & Watson, 26 Manchester Square, London); the collection also includes various personal papers of Tambimuttu from the same period.

As editor of Poetry London, Tambimuttu encouraged submissions from young and aspiring poets, as well as from poets with more established reputations; the editorial correspondence files reflect this range of known and unknown contributors, many of whose names are familiar now - such as Charles Causley and R S Thomas - but were not so at the time. Although some material from the very earliest years of Poetry London is represented, most editorial material is from the period 1943-1947, a period that co-incided with the support of the publishers Nicholson & Watson, which provided office accommodation and staff support, neither of which resources were previously available to Tambimuttu.

Personal correspondence includes letters exchanged with (Captain) Anthony Dickins, co-founder of Poetry London, who was for a period in World War II stationed in Sri Lanka and took the opportunity to visit Tambimuttu's family. Some correspondence between Tambimuttu and his family and friends in Sri Lanka is included, as well as various items of poetry and prose by Tambimuttu, and three of his London notebooks containing draft material (for radio talks and some occasional jounalism). Also present is Tambimuttu's contract with Faber and Faber Limited in respect of the anthology Poetry in Wartime (1942), edited by Tambimuttu, together with the original draft manuscript of the anthology.