Lewis gives father's papers to Oxford

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis and sister Tamasin have donated the literary archive of their father poet Cecil Day-Lewis to Oxford University's Bodleian Library. Cecil Day-Lewis, one of the most notable Angle-Irish poets of the 20th Century, was a member of the Auden group of poets and intellectuals in the 1930s, the BBC reported. He was elected professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951 and appointed Poet Laureate in 1968. Day-Lewis also wrote mystery novels and short stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake. A symposium celebrating his life and work opened at the Bodleian Library Tuesday, The Guardian reported. Chris Fletcher, keeper of special collections, said a number of items are being displayed for the first time, including a letter from W.H. Auden that contains constructive criticism of a poem Day-Lewis sent him. Also being displayed is a limited edition of a poem Day-Lewis wrote to mark the birth of his son Daniel. Fletcher admitted the competition for the Day-Lewis archives was strong with U.S. institutions having much more money at their disposal. "If the manuscripts had ended up outside the country it would have saddened us all as a family," Tamasin and Daniel Day-Lewis said.