Collected Works

Clere Parsons (1908–1931) was a poet of the 1930s and university contemporary of W.H. Auden. He was a key figure within the Oxford poetry scene and served as editor of a number of student magazines including the influential Oxford Poetry. An early proponent of American Modernism, Parsons’ sole volume of posthumous poetry revealed these innovative influences and marked his voice as highly distinctive.

Although fading from view in the years following his death, Parsons’ work has been praised by such influential critics as Geoffrey Grigson and C.H. Sisson. This edition by Shoestring Press, which includes every poem published by Parsons as well as the majority of his prose, will therefore serve to introduce his work to a new readership and locate him among the most original talents of the twentieth century.