Now (1940–1947)

NOW was a political and literary periodical founded in 1940 by George Woodcock,^[1][2] its first editor, from 1940 to 1941, and by Freedom Press from 1943 to 1947.^[3]

In the words of its founder, it was established as a review "for publishing literary matter and also as a forum for controversial writing which could not readily find publications under wartime conditions", and included works by "Anarchists, Stalinists, Trotskyists, pacifists, and New Statesman moderates".^[4]

In 1945 Now published Marie-Louise Berneri's "Sexuality and Freedom", one of the first discussions of the ideas of Wilhelm Reich in Britain. ^[5]

Orwell

In his reply to George Orwell's "London Letter", published in the March–April 1942 issue of Partisan Review, in which Orwell had mentioned NOW as an example of publications that published contributions by both pacificts and Fascists,^[6] Woodcock stated that "the review had abandoned its position as an independent forum", and was now "the cultural review of the British Anarchist movement".^[4] The issue Orwell referred to featured "contributions from, among others, the Duke of Bedford, Alexander Comfort, Julian Symons, and Hugh Ross Williamson".^[6]

Now would later publish Orwell's article "How the Poor Die" in its 6 November 1946 issue.

Contributors

• Mulk Raj Anand^[1]
• Duke of Bedford
• Marvin Barrett ^[7]
• Roy Campbell ^[8]
• Alexander Comfort^[1]
• Rhys Davies ^[8]
• Hugh I'Anson Fausset^[8]
• Roy Fuller^[1]
• James Hanley ^[7]
• Julian Huxley^[1]
• Henry Miller^[1]
• George Orwell^[1]
• Mervyn Peake ^[7]
• Herbert Read^[1]
• Keidrych Rhys ^[7]
• Kenneth Rexroth^[9]
• F.A. Ridley ^[7]
• Rainer Marie Rilke (a reprint).^[8]
• Derek Savage^[1]
• Francis Scarfe ^[8]
• Theodore Spencer ^[7]
• Julian Symons
• Ruthven Todd ^[8]
• Wilfred Wellock ^[8]
• Hugh Ross Williamson

References