James Reeves

John Morris Reeves (1 July 1909 – 1 May 1978) was a British writer known as James Reeves principally known for his poetry and contributions to children's literature and the literature of collected traditional songs.

Life

He was the son of Albert Reeves, an accountant, and Ethel Blenche who was the daughter of a school mistress from Yarm in North East England - they met while on holiday in Switzerland. Subsequently they lived in Nottinghamshire where they had two children, David and John, who later changed his name to James. He was born in Harrow, and educated at Stowe School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He taught until 1952, when he became a full-time writer.

He was close to Laura Riding for a time, being successor to Jacob Bronowski as editor of Epilogue: a critical summary. He was also an editor of some of the works of Robert Graves. His prose work for children commenced in 1956 and included short stories and poetry.

Works

• Songs for Sixpence (1929), editor
• The Natural Need (1936, Seizin Press), poems
• The Imprisoned Sea (Editions Poetry London, 1949), poems
• The Wandering Moon (Heinemann, 1950), poems, with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone
• The Snitterjipe
• The Password and Other Poems (William Heinemann, 1952)
• The Critical Sense: practical criticism of prose and poetry (1956)
• Prefabulous Animiles (1957) poems, with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone
• A Golden Land (Constable, 1958) editor
• The Talking Skull (Heinemann, 1958), poems
• The Idiom of the People: English traditional verse (1958) folk songs, with Cecil Sharp
• Collected Poems 1929-1959 (1960)
• The Everlasting Circle: English traditional verse (Heinemann, 1960)
• Georgian Verse (1962), editor
• The Questioning Tiger (1964), poems
• Selected Poems (Allison & Busby, 1967)
• The Christmas Book (1968), with Raymond Briggs
• The Cold Flame (1967), children's novel based on a Grimm fairy tale
• Understanding Poetry (1967)
• Commitment to Poetry (1969)
• Maildun the Voyager (1971), historical novel
• Poems and Paraphrases (1972)
• Complete Poems for Children (1973)
• A Vein of Mockery: Twentieth-century verse (1973)
• The Forbidden Forest (William Heinemann, 1973)
• Collected Poems 1929-1974 (1974)
• More Prefabulous Animiles (1975), poems, with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone
• The Reputation and Writings of Alexander Pope (1976)
• The Closed Door (Gruffyground Press, 1977), poems
• Arcadian Ballads (Whittington Press, 1978), poems
• The Sea