Literary magazine published by the University of Cambridge
The Cover of Cambridge Literary Review, Issue 1. Designed by Will Brady
The Cambridge Literary Review (CLR) is a literary magazine published on an occasional basis. It is edited by Lydia Wilson, Rosie Šnajdr, Jocelyn Betts and Paige Smeaton and is run from Trinity Hall college at the University of Cambridge in England. It was founded in 2009 by Boris Jardine and Lydia Wilson with assistance from the University's 800th anniversary fund.[1] It publishes poetry, short fiction and criticism, and although its commitment to experimental and often difficult works is influenced by the 'Cambridge School' of poetry it has included contributions by writers from around the world and in many languages. It has received notice in The Times Literary Supplement.[2]
CLR1 was dedicated to Cambridge writing, including a long section of essays dedicated to the topic by Jeremy Noel-Tod, Andrew Duncan, Elaine Feinstein, Richard Berengarten, Robert Archambeau, et al. Other essays are included by Raymond Geuss on 'productive obscurity', Stefan Collini on the study of the humanities, Rebecca Stott on historical fiction and Philip Pettit on the now-defunct Cambridge Review. This issue proved controversial, engaging the editors in correspondence with the Times Literary Supplement over comments by reviewer J.C.[3] Similarly, a number of writers associated with Cambridge took up the claims of Robert Archambeau's essay; these responses were discussed on his blog,[4] and a selection were published in CLR2.
CLR3 was dedicated to the theme of 'translation', though the term was taken very loosely, the editors stating that the contents were "not so much straight translations, as meditations on or digressions from the manifold practices, protocols and theories of translation.".[5] This issue featured new work from poets Anne Blonstein, Jonty Tiplady, Rich Owens, as well as translations from Osip Mandelstam, Henri Deluy, Charles Baudelaire, and Hermann Hesse. The prose and essay sections featured Kurt Schwitters, Eric Hazan, Jeremy Hardingham, André Gide and Emily Critchley. A notable essay on the translation of difficult poetry by J. H. Prynne was published, alongside theoretical and historical studies by Nick Jardine, David Bellos, Lydia Davis and others.
Again the issue did not escape unfavourable comment in the N.B. column of the Times Literary Supplement; however, in November 2010 Robert Potts discussed the CLR favourably and at length in his essay review concerning J. H. Prynne.[6]
