Happy Imagist Day

Right?:

Their names have largely been forgotten over time — TE Hulme, FS Flint, Edward Storer — but 100 years ago today, a young and edgy group of bohemians met together for the first time and changed the face of poetry for good.

Enthusiasts are celebrating 25 March as one of our most significant literary anniversaries, though one that most people know nothing about. It marked, they claim, the birth of modern poetry. And it all happened in a central London cafe, just off Tottenham Court Road.

"What went on in there changed the course of poetry in the 20th century," said lecturer Robert Richardson, pointing to a French-Vietnamese restaurant called Bam-Bou, now owned by the group behind The Ivy. On 25 March 1909 it was called Cafe Tour d'Eiffel, and it was here that the group of poets who would later become known as the "School of Images" gathered.