麻豆社

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the 麻豆社's radio poetry archive with 'Lost Voices: Herbert Read' featuring his First World War poetry.

Herbert Read was a man of many contradictions. Though a dedicated socialist and a committed anarchist, he was knighted by Winston Churchill; he was a pacifist but was twice decorated for bravery in the First World War; he was a strong advocate for Modernism in British art but could not accept the concept of Post Modernism.

His towering presence in the post-war art world (he co-founded the Institute of Contemporary Arts) almost totally eclipsed his abilities as a poet, and yet his son - the writer Piers Paul Read - believes he always thought of himself as a poet.

Presenter Brian Patten - who met Herbert Read towards the end of his life - finds an impressively mature voice; cool in tone but full of humanitarian feeling towards the men - he characterised them as 'children' - involved on both sides.

Poems read by Samuel West.

Producer Christine Hall

First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in 2011.