Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu

1 portrait of Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu

© Edward Lucie-Smith / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu

by Edward Lucie-Smith
bromide print, circa 1970
11 3/4 in. x 8 in. (299 mm x 203 mm)
Acquired from (John) Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith, before 1974
Photographs Collection
NPG x26695

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RAVIN TAMBIMUTTU

18 October 2019, 10:28

Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu (15 August 1915 – 23 June 1983) was a Sri Lankan Tamil poet, editor, critic and publisher, who for many years played a significant part on the literary scenes of London and New York City. He founded in 1939 the respected literary magazine Poetry London, which "soon became the best known poetry periodical in England, and Tambimuttu became widely known as a skillful editor."[1] Four issues of Poetry London–New York were published in the 1950s; the fifth in 1960. Among those published by Tambimuttu were Lawrence Durrell, Kathleen Raine, W. H. Auden, Gavin Ewart, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Roy Campbell, Robin Skelton, Keith Douglas, and many other notable writers.[2] In 1955 Tambimuttu was described by The New York Times as "probably the best-known contemporary Sri Lankan Tamil poet". He created two publishing houses, Editions Poetry London (established in 1943) and Lyrebird Press (1968), both of which published major works.

In 1943, Tambimuttu commissioned the young artist Lucian Freud to illustrate a book of poems by Nicholas Moore entitled The Glass Tower. It was published the following year by Editions Poetry London and comprised, among other drawings, a stuffed zebra and a palm tree.