Stevie Smith

William May (University of Southern California)
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Stevie Smith has been increasingly recognised as one of the most important female British poets of the twentieth-century, and the most original voice to emerge from the 1930s. Her three novels, written at the beginning of her career, have been praised for their playful narrative voices and literary allusions, whilst her nine volumes of poetry accompanied by her intransigent illustrations have made her one of the most popular and individual poets of the last hundred years.

Florence Margaret Smith was born on 20 September 1902 in Hull, England. She would only acquire the name Stevie nearly twenty years later, when she was compared to the popular jockey Steve Donaghue. Her elder sister, Ethel Mary Frances, was born two years earlier. Their father Charles Ward Smith abandoned the family in

2033 words

Citation: May, William. "Stevie Smith". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4124, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4124 Stevie Smith 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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