John Thelwall ― Selected Poetry and Poetics

John Thelwall: Selected Poetry and Poetics is the first modern edition of poetry by a man better known as a romantic radical and eloquent champion of the working class. Drawing on newly-discovered manuscripts, it reveals the originality and sophistication of his poetic voice by gathering the remarkable range of his poetry, both published and performed, into 8 chapters organized by genre. Eight key essays and 125 fully-annotated poems are introduced in correspondence with major contemporaries (from Blake to Byron), historical traditions, and recent critical paradigms of sociable, performative and gendered romanticism. A cogent preface introduces his key theories, shows how they unite his political philosophy and poetic language, and demonstrates how that language operates. It also offers the first complete (albeit brief) biography of Thelwall, focusing on his poetic genesis and development.

Judith Thompson is Professor of English at Dalhousie University, Canada. She is the author of John Thelwall in the Wordsworth Circle: The Silenced Partner and the editor or co-editor of several volumes by or about this leading romantic radical, including digital multimedia productions. She is currently writing Thelwall's biography.