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
Charles Morgan
Playwright, novelist and critic. Born Bromley, Kent, son of the engineer Sir Charles Langbridge Morgan. Died at the house with the plaque.
Arthur Clive Heward Bell
Known professionally as Clive Bell, he was an art critic and writer who married Vanessa Stephen, sister of Virginia Woolf. His Wikipedia page gives much information about this man. Additionally we...
John Middleton Murry
Literary critic. Born Peckham. Husband of Katherine Mansfield and on her death married a woman who strongly resembled her and also died of tuberculosis. His 3rd marriage was a disaster but he ...
Stevie Smith
Author and poet. Born Florence Margaret Smith in Kingston upon Hull. She supposedly got her nickname when out riding with a friend, who thought she looked like the jockey Steve Donoghue. Her father...
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