Edith Sitwell: Avant Garde Poet, English Genius

by Richard Greene

For the better part of forty years, Edith Sitwell's poetry has been neglected by critics. But born into a family of privileged eccentrics, Edith Sitwell was highly regarded by her the great writers and artists of the day who attended her unlikely London literary salon. Her quips and anecdotes were legendary and her works like English Eccentrics confirmed her comic genius, while later she established herself as the quintessential poet of the Blitz.

This masterly biography, meticulously researched and drawing on many previously unseen letters, firmly places Edith Sitwell in the literary tradition to which she belongs.

Genres: Biography, History, Poetry, Nonfiction

532 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2011

About the author

Richard Thomas Greene is a Canadian poet and biographer whose book Boxing the Compass won the Governor General's Award for English language poetry at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. Greene received his BA in English at Memorial University in 1983, and took his doctorate as a Rothermere Fellow at Oxford University in 1991. He returned to Memorial University to teach English before joining the University Of Toronto at Mississauga in 1995, as a member of the English and Drama department. Married to pianist Marianne Marusic and father to four children, he resides in Cobourg, Ontario.

Greene first distinguished himself as a teacher and a critic with his book Mary Leapor: A Study in Eighteenth-Century Women's Poetry, published in 1993. In addition to 18th-century poetry, it was with scholarly works on Dame Edith Sitwell and Graham Greene that Greene broke through to greater renown and a wide general readership. He enjoyed international success in 2007 with Graham Greene: A Life in Letters - a biography constructed out of the novelist's own words. His recent biography, Edith Sitwell: Avant-garde Poet, English Genius is an attempt to revive the reputation of a neglected writer.

Greene is primarily known in Canada as a poet. His first collection, Republic of Solitude: Poems 1984-1994 drew little attention from reviewers when published in Newfoundland in 1994. However, it contains poems such as "Utopia" that have been often anthologized. His second collection, Crossing the Straits, was published by the St. Thomas Poetry Series of Toronto in 2004. Richard Greene's third collection of poems, Boxing the Compass, describes the journeys Greene made by Greyhound and Amtrak while visiting archives of Graham Greene's letters. It eventually won him the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry.

Richard Greene currently teaches Creative Writing and British literature at the University of Toronto.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good attempt at capturing the essence of a complex and fascinating character. Edith Sitwell packed so much into her life that even a 400 page biography is going to struggle to do justice to her. Born into an aristocratic family, whose country seat was Renishaw Hall near Sheffield; Sitwell always said she fell she was a changeling. Over six foot tall with an extraordinary voice she had a commanding physical presence. Her style of dress and looks made her stand out. She was brought up in privilege and never really understood money. As most of her life she had comparatively little of it, she spent much time owing money with the bank pressing her about her overdraft and the taxman appearing as baffled about her finances as she was.
She was , of course, one of the foremost English female poets of the twentieth century and Greene does integrate her poetry into her life.
The list of people she influenced and mixed with is fascinating; Yeats, Dylan Thomas (she was one of the early champions of his poetry), Eliot, Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Waugh, Gore Vidal, Marilyn Monroe (I kid you not; she strenuously defended her over posing for the infamous calendar), Allen Ginsberg, William Walton, Siegfried Sassoon, Spender, Virginia Woolf, Britten, Gertrude Stein, Lawrence, Graham Greene; to name a few. She fell out with a few of them and made up. She hated critics; calling them the pipsqueakery.
Her poetry has had a mixed reception at times, but some very good poets rate her very highly. Greene points out that her poetry is designed to be read out loud. The poem she wrote as a response to the blitz, "Still Falls the Rain" is an example. It reads ok, but listen to Sitwell reading it out loud, the difference is remarkable.
Her collaboration with the composer William Walton which resulted in Facade also illustrates the importance of the vocal performance.
Greene also examines her relationship with the artist Pavel Tchelitchew, which was complex to say the least.
Sitwell was an eccentric and Richard Greene captures her oddness and eccentricity as well as her deep humanity, loneliness and her rather bizarre family. Her childhood was difficult and she never got on with her parents. Her relationship with her two equally famous brothers was fractious at times. However she was always supportive of Osbert and his sexuality. Osbert was gay and made no real secret of it at a time when it was illegal. Edith was a little hazy at first (it all had to be explained to her!), but stood with her brother and spoke out when the Wolfenden report of 1957 recommending legalisation was not acted on.
Sitwell is a fascinating character with many flaws, but a joy to read about. Richard Greene has done a good job.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a couple of Edith Sitwell biographies over the years, but I liked this one the best. The main advantage of this one is the careful attention Greene pays to Sitwell as a poet rather than simply to her interesting social life. I had never grasped, even after reading a lot of it quietly to myself, that Sitwell's poetry is all about rhythm. It needs to be read out loud, and with carful attention to the sound character of the words. I was so used to poetry being about meaning and imagery that the idea of technical brilliance being encompassed in the way syllables and consonants made patterns had not occurred to me. But listen to some of Facades on youtube or iTunes and you can hear the way she used word sounds to capture specific rhythms - say Foxtrot 'Old Sir Faulk' or Tango-Pasodoble. In many ways Facades is early rap music.

The book feels rushed towards the end, and finishes abruptly with her death, but I felt there was a missed opportunity to explore the legacy of Edith's poetry and style past her death. I was grateful for the additional reading list - perhaps I will get around to wading through the 4 volumes of Osbert Sitwell's biography Left Hand, Right Hand after all

[eLwYcKe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess I'm not a poetry reader anymore.
In my youth I enjoyed Mr. Hughes''Crow', Baudelaire and Rimbaud, but that was it.
But I've always been intrigued by Edith Sitwell, chiefly due to her magnificent appearance which is a great advertisement for poetry. If more poets looked like her more people might read it.
I spent over two months enjoying this book and laughing out loud at Sitwell's mordant wit and worrying about her treatment at the hands of her frightful parents. Has Mr.Greene's biography compelled me to read more of her verse and poetry in general? I think so.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit it: I have a total crush on Edith Sitwell. Her marvelous poetry, her dilemmas with her family, the stunning portraits of her by Tchelitchew and others- I can't get enough. Anyone who has the guts and humor to earn three honorary doctorates and then sign herself "Dame Edith Sitwell, D.Litt, D.Litt, D.Litt is my kind of gal. Greene does a wonderful job here, excellent research, smooth writing, full understanding of Sitwell's struggles and strengths.

[Holly Beaumont · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this book very ignorant of its subject, but nevertheless fairly convinced I'd find her interesting, which of course I did. Likeable, probably not - she was too strong and too complex a character to be quite that. And I can't say I'm won over by her poetry either, though the author took a good stab at convincing me - and rather lost me on the sections digging into her technique.
But she was a complex, fascinating subject, bucking trends for her sex and social station, forming deep friendships and deeper enmities. He life abutted the lives of so many other artists, often people whose works and reputations were a lot more bedded into my consciousness. But of course, the majority of these were men, and able to enjoy their success without the degree of viciousness or personal/professional demolition that Dame Edith endured both during her lifetime and (critically to her legacy) after her death. She didn't have an easy life, and she wasn't by any stretch an easy person, but she makes for a fascinating subject, deserving of more biographies.

[Kim Horrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book, a fascinating subject. Quite a lot about the techniques of poetry, much of which went over my head, but what comes across is that she was a women not just of her time, but ours. A women known for her acerbic wit, but who should also be known for her unstinting kindness and support to friends in need. She also held great sway in literary circles and championed talent, notably Dylan Thomas. I bought this book as I saw it on the bookshop table, it appealed and I knew nothing really of Sitwell except the things everyone knows. Some of the examples of her poetry quoted show that she was quite 'out there' - am now moving on to reading her poetry.

[Ashley Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. Such a great woman. I appreciated the not too technical insights into her poetical techniques. Could have elaborated more on why she hated her parents, that is, given more anecdotes. But it is an excellent book and certainly all encompassing, in so far that is possible in a long and lively lifetime.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and Greene clearly has a passion about Sitwell. This made the book rather over detailed at times, and for someone who was interested in learning about the writer, this made it rather inaccessible and I felt bogged down in it.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written and interesting although I felt the author was perhaps too much on Edith's 'side'. He explains her relationship with Pavel Tchelitchew as being 'the love of her life'. Doesn't feel like there is any perspective here, Tchelitchew was pretty awful to her and maybe Edith was being a sap by still loving him so devotedly.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written book - loved it!!!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and good insight into Sitwell's life and times, but the editor should have been far more ruthless. A rather tedious read.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Greene is a devoted fan of Ms Sitwell, and it shows. As adulatory as this biography is, though, it's also witty and honest and occasionally wry.

[Sherry Mackay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay I admit it. I did not finish this book. It was kind of heavy going. It felt like the author just threw you into a huge pot of information lots of names and places and you were just meant to know who they all were without explanation. Sorry but I'm just not that interested. Perhaps if you had a massive interest in her poetry it might be worth ploughing through but not for me. There did not seem to be any chronological order. It flipped around with no clear timeframes. Just too much work to get to the fruit.