Monro serves in the war and Alida keeps the Bookshop
Poet involved
What happened
Though in poor health and never a front-line combatant, Monro served with the Royal Garrison Artillery, including anti-aircraft duty sent from a Manchester posting, and later with intelligence work in London that let him return to the shop. Alida Klemantaski kept the Poetry Bookshop running in Bloomsbury through the war years. Wilfred Owen was among the poets who used the Devonshire Street house as lodging and meeting place in 1916.
Literary impact
War service and absence from the counter darkened Monro's tone and pushed him toward poems of human psychology under strain, including the Youth in Arms group. Hosting Owen and other wartime visitors confirmed the Bookshop as a living room for a new, less ornamental war poetry.
Source: Poetry Foundation
