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Monro, Harold, 1879-1932

1879-1932

Harold Monro (1879-1932) was a British poet, literary critic, and owner of the famous Poetry Bookshop, where renowned poets came to connect with the London public. Monro, a poet of modern verse and an avid promoter of British literary arts, founded three leading literary periodicals, including The Poetry Review.

He became proprietor of the Poetry Bookshop in 1912, and through this venue became influential in the lives of many important modern poets, including Wilfred Owen, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Anna Wickham. He was reluctantly called up to fight in World War I from 1917 to 1919, after which he returned to continue his literary and business career. Monro was a conflicted homosexual who married twice; once in 1903 and again in 1920.

His second marriage was to his assistant, Alida Klemantaski, who enjoyed participating in Monro's intellectual and business pursuits. Poor health and alcoholism contributed to his early death at the age of 47. Monro is not well remembered by literary history, though devotees such as Dominic Hibberd have helped to resurrect the memory of this influential and talented literary professional.