Poet and biographer. Born at Scarborough into the aristocracy. 6-foot tall, with elongated features she added to the effect with her exuberant flowing and ornate clothing. Her poetry was avant garde and concerned with musicality. Her performance of Façade in 1923 has been described as early white rap or like a "happening" from the 60s, and attracted the same response - bemusement. Noel Coward's review caused her to refuse to speak to him for 40 years. But she gradually gained respect and, when she and her brother Osbert toured America they were a great success, especially with the stars in Hollywood. She was early to promote the work of Dylan Thomas. In WW2 she contributed to the war effort by knitting clothes for friends in the forces, including Alec Guinness.
Died, unmarried at St Thomas's Hospital. Her nephew, Francis, was her literary executor.
There is a wonderful 1943 portrait of her by Wyndham Lewis.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Dame Edith Sitwell
Commemorated ati
Edith Sitwell
English Heritage Dame Edith Sitwell, 1887 - 1964, poet lived here in Flat 42.
Virtues - Sixth Sense
Edith Sitwell reads a book while blithely crossing a chasm on a bridge made o...
Other Subjects
Edgar Allan Poe
Author and poet. Born Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts, he added Allan to his name in honour of the family who took him in after his father absconded and his mother died. Lived in London from 18...
Edmond Malone
Shakespearian scholar. Born in Dublin. Our picture source gives a biography of his life.
Frederick Startridge Ellis
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Diana Mitford
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Lalla Rookh - poem
An oriental romance by Thomas Moore. The eponymous heroine (the name means 'tulip cheeked') is engaged to the young king of Bukhara. She goes to meet him, but falls in love with Feramorz, a poet fr...
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