William Cookson (1939-2003), poet, writer on poetry and literary editor, came from a family of poets. His father, George Cookson (1870-1944), a school inspector, published two books of poetry and was editor of ‘English’, the journal of the English Association. His mother, Rachel Pelham Burnham, (d. 1982), contributed poems to ‘Time and Tide’. William wrote and published his poetry at Westminster School (1952-1957) where he helped to revive the School’s literary magazine, ‘The Fidler’. His review of a poem by Ezra Pound was well received by the poet, the beginning of a close (and to the young Cookson surprising) literary friendship which led to the publication of the poetry magazine ‘Agenda’ in 1959, on which Pound and Cookson worked for a brief period as co-founders and editors. Another key early influence was the English poet and editor, Peter Russell, who also encouraged Cookson to set up a poetry magazine and introduced him to the work of poets who would later figure prominently in ‘Agenda’. Russell also introduced Cookson to Czeslaw and Krystyna Bednarczyk, who founded ‘The Poets’ and Painters’ Press’, ‘Agenda’s printer from the beginning until 1991.

After starting the magazine, Cookson read English at New College, Oxford (1960-1963). His tutor, John Bayley, was also a trustee of ‘Agenda’. Illness led Pound to withdraw from active involvement in the magazine. In the early 1960s Cookson expanded the magazine and shifted the editorial focus towards late modern British and American poets. This remained the main interest of the magazine throughout his editorship, which lasted until his death in 2003. Operating on a tight budget with periodic financial crises, which led to Arts Council funding, ‘Agenda’ was considered the foremost poetry magazine of the day, usually published on a quarterly basis, also issuing special editions on individual poets and separate collections of poets’ verse. Cookson himself published two volumes of poetry, ‘Spells’, 1986, and ‘Vestiges’, 1987 and wrote ‘A Guide to the Cantos of Ezra Pound’, 1985.

(Sources: ‘The Records of Old Westminsters’, vol. iv, 1992, p.78; ‘Agenda: An Anthology: The First Four Decades, 1959-93’, 1993, pp. xiii-xxvi, Introduction by Cookson with autobiographical notes; ‘The Guardian’, obituary, 7 January, 2003).