We’re focusing on the POOL group, who were an influential collective of writers, filmmakers and film critics who became the first Anglophone modernists to argue (amongst other things) in favour of film as an art form.

Come prepared to learn not just about the group's core members, Kenneth Macpherson, H.D. and Bryher, but also their lesser known key contributors such as Robert Herring and Oswell Blakeston.

This episode maps POOL group’s key figures and moments: from their experimental lifestyles to the avant-garde ideas that they engaged with. This episode explores the influence of Monte Carlo on the group, a town they visited regularly in the early 1930s. Chris and Polly’s analyses are accompanied by H.D. and Herring’s autobiographical notes and personal correspondence, showing how the French Riviera inspired two texts, Herring’s novel Cactus Coast and H.D.’s short story ‘Mira-Mare’.

We hope you will enjoy this reflection on what the French Riviera meant to the POOL group, and how it influenced two neglected modernist texts. If you liked it, please consider subscribing to more modernist conversations as we invite guests to discuss more of modernity!