Tambimuttu, (Meary James Thurairajah) Biography

Ceylonese editor and poet, generally known by his surname alone, born of an aristocratic English-speaking family in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He left Ceylon for Britain in 1937. Once in London, he rapidly established himself as a significant member of the literary and artistic circles of Soho and Fitzrovia, and was among the founders of Poetry London in 1939. He edited the magazine until his departure for the USA in 1947, where he began the short-lived Poetry London–New York in 1956. His versions of traditional Indian erotic lyrics were published with a series of prints by John Piper in an opulently produced limited edition entitled India Love Poems (1977). His numerous other works as an editor include a Festschrift for the sixtieth birthday of T. S. Eliot, who approved of his endeavours in the 1940s and commissioned him to edit Poetry in Wartime (1942); Natarajah (1949), also in celebration of Eliot's birthday, and Out of this War (1941) are his principal publications as a poet. Tambimuttu: Bridge between Two Worlds (1989) is a collection of memoirs edited by Jane Williams.