Stephen Spender was born in London on 28 February, 1909. He studied at Oxford University and subsequently fought in the Spanish Civil War. During the 1920s and 1930s he linked with other poets and writers such as W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Louis MacNeice, and C. Day Lewis. Their work was often inspired by socialist ideals and they protested against the class system that they perceived as perpetuating inequality and terrible conditions for the working classes.

During World War II, Spender served in the London fire service. He was co-founder of Horizon Magazine with the literary critic and author, Cyril Connolly. He was editor from 1939 to 1941. Later he edited Encounter Magazine from 1953 to 1966.

Spender published several poetry collections, including ‘Twenty Poems’ (1930), ‘Vienna’ (1934), ‘The Still Centre’ (1939), ‘Poems of Dedicatio'n (1946), and 'The Generous Days’ (1971). He held the post of Professor of English Literature at London University, from 1970 to 1977,. He was knighted in 1983.

Spender died on July 16, 1995.