Introduction: ‘Here We All Are to Greet You’

Abstract

This introductory chapter begins by describing the controversy surrounding MacSweeney’s death in May 2000, played out in an obituary, an article, and the letters pages of The Guardian. It goes on to discuss the contestation of MacSweeney’s legacy in criticism, before outlining the methodology of the book: that MacSweeney’s work demands to be read in conjunction with events in political and public life, and through bibliographic scholarship. The chapter then provides a thorough biographical overview, introducing writers and publications that will recur throughout the book. It situates MacSweeney in the dynamic and heavily politicised youth culture of 1960s, Tyneside and reviews the current critical field of post-war British poetry while summarising the arguments of the chapters that follow.