Lagan

Founded by Sam Hanna Bell with John Boyd and Bob Davison in 1943 as a Northern counterpart to The Bell and dedicated to socialist and intellectual opposition to Unionism. Articles incl. ‘The Poetry of Joseph Campbell’, Lagan, No. 3, pp.67-73; John Hewitt, ‘The Bitter Gourd: Problems of the Ulster Writer’, Lagan, No. 3, 93-105 [n.d., cited in Terence Brown, Northern Voices: Poets from Ulster, 1975, Sel. Bibl.]

First Editorial [1943] ‘An Ulster literary tradition that is capable of developing and enriching itself must spring out of the life and speech of the province; and an Ulster writer connot evade his problems by adopting either a super-imposed English or a sentimental Gaelic outlook. His outlook must be that of an Ulster man. He must, therefore, train his ears to catch the unique swing of our speech; train his eyes to note the natural beauty of our towns: above all, he must study the psychology of our people.’ (John Boyd.)

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