Life and Letters

a literary periodical initially edited by Desmond MacCarthy, who began it in 1928. During its early years it frequently included work by MacCarthy's associates in the Bloomsbury Group; Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, J. M. Keynes, Clive Bell, and E. M. Forster were among the contributors. Writing by D. H. Lawrence, Cyril Connolly, and Evelyn Waugh was also featured. Following the end of MacCarthy's editorship in 1934, the new authors whose work appeared included W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Stephen Spender, Frank O'Connor, and Graham Greene. In 1935 it became known as Life and Letters Today under the co-editorship of Petrie Townshend and Robert Herring. It absorbed the London Mercury and Bookman in 1939 and reverted to the title Life and Letters in 1945. During the Second World War the magazine gave extended attention to the social implications of the conflict and favoured the New Apocalypse. From 1945 onward it was noted for its attention to European writing. It closed unexpectedly in 1950.