Connolly, Cyril (Vernon) (1903–1974)

English critic and writer. As a founder and editor of the literary magazine Horizon (1939–50), he had considerable critical influence. His works include The Rock Pool (1936), a novel of artists on the Riviera, and The Unquiet Grave (1944), a series of reflections published under the pseudonym of Palinurus.

Connolly was born in Coventry, the West Midlands. Entering journalism, he became a regular contributor to the New Statesman and other periodicals, and was literary editor of the Observer 1942–43. He wrote a regular column on literary affairs which appeared for many years in the Sunday Times.

Collections of his essays include The Condemned Playground (1944), Ideas and Places (1953), The Modern Movement (1965), and The Evening Colonnade (1973).