Stevie Smith (1) (1902–1971)
Author of Novel on Yellow Paper
About the Author
Florence Margaret Smith was born in Kingston upon Hull on September 20, 1902. After her parents' separation she moved with her mother, aunt, and sister to a house in the London suburb of Palmers Green, where she lived for the rest of her life. After graduating from North London Collegiate School show more for Girls, she worked as a private secretary with the London magazine publishing firm George Newnes. She adopted her nickname, Stevie, as a nom de plume after a friend's joking comparison of her petite stature to that of the jockey Steve Donoghue. Her first book, Novel on Yellow Paper, was published in 1936. She began writing poetry in her twenties and her first collection of verse, A Good Time Was Had by All, was published in 1937. She retired from George Newnes in 1953 due to ill health and to focus on her writing and BBC broadcasts. She came to wider public attention after the publication of her Selected Poems in Britain in 1962 and the United States in 1964. Her other works include The Holiday, Scorpion and Other Poems, and Me Again: Uncollected Writings of Stevie Smith. She was awarded the Chomondeley Award for Poetry in 1966 and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1969. She died of a brain tumor on March 7, 1971. In 1981, a film based on her life entitled Stevie was released. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Stevie Smith
Me again: Uncollected writings of Stevie Smith ; illustrated by herself ; edited by Jack Barbera & William McBrien with… (1981) 155 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,326 copies, 9 reviews
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 958 copies, 7 reviews
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time (1998) — Contributor — 469 copies, 1 review
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 4th Edition, Volume 2 (1979) — Contributor — 258 copies, 1 review
The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales (2003) — Contributor — 65 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Smith, Florence Margaret
- Birthdate
- 1902-09-20
- Date of death
- 1971-03-07
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Kingston-upon-Hull, England, UK
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Kingston-upon-Hull, England
Palmers Green, London, England
Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK
London, England, UK - Education
- Palmers Green High School, London
North London Collegiate School for Girls, London - Occupations
- poet
private secretary
novelist - Relationships
- Newnes, George (employer)
Orwell, George (rumoured lover)
Members
Reviews
Me Again by Stevie Smith
This book is definitely not for those who love straight-forward plots and prose. The book reads like a poem. It takes time to read, too, re-reading passages to figure out what she means, much like one of the more dense Joyce novels. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought the character of Pompey had amazing insights and was an especially forward thinker for the time (20th century in the years immediately leading up to WWII). She questions and struggles with the unity of marriage, the church, love, lust, suicide, people with more down-to-earth goals in life and those with more of a free spirit who don't want to be tied down by commonalities and mundane day-to-day things, etc.
Pompey also is suffering a sort of break down from a failed relationship, and it is lovely to see her reveal this throughout the book. It's more stream of consciousness but with a very defined purpose. Stevie Smith, in all her writing, is full of intent, full of deeper meanings. I so much adore the character of Pompey. Novel on Yellow Paper is for those who like JD Salinger's short stories, e.e. cummings poetry, and the insight of Graham Greene (very specifically, if you loved the diary part of The End of the Affair like I did, you'll enjoy this book).… (more)
Pompey also is suffering a sort of break down from a failed relationship, and it is lovely to see her reveal this throughout the book. It's more stream of consciousness but with a very defined purpose. Stevie Smith, in all her writing, is full of intent, full of deeper meanings. I so much adore the character of Pompey. Novel on Yellow Paper is for those who like JD Salinger's short stories, e.e. cummings poetry, and the insight of Graham Greene (very specifically, if you loved the diary part of The End of the Affair like I did, you'll enjoy this book).… (more)
The poem is so short I can reproduce it here:
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Profound...so many are not waving but drowning and so often no one notices.… (more)
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Profound...so many are not waving but drowning and so often no one notices.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 37
- Also by
- 23
- Members
- 1,978
- Popularity
- #13,003
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 24
- ISBNs
- 63
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 21
