On the anniversary of her birth, UCL Press marks the life and works of Sylvia Townsend Warner.

Born on 6^th December 1893, Warner was an English novelist and poet. In 1925 Warner published her first collection of poetry, The Espalier and her first novel, Lolly Willowes, published the following year, establishing her as a literary talent, a contemporary of Virginia Woolf and Djuna Barnes. Warner contributed short stories to the New Yorker for more than forty years and went on to write six more novels.

Warner lived in Dorset for most of her life with her partner, Valentine Ackland. They joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and worked in Spain during the Civil War and her writing at the time reflected on contemporary politics.

Warner continued publishing throughout her life, subverting dominant narratives on gender, sexuality and politics. Though interest in her work remained steady during her lifetime, the attention her work has gained in the years following her death in 1978 has brought renewed enthusiasm and new readers to her work.

In this context, The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society was launched in 2000 with the aim to promote a wide readership and better understanding of the writings of Warner. The society also launched a new academic journal, The Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society, edited by Professor Peter Swaab (UCL English, University College London, UK). Published by UCL Press, The Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society is a peer reviewed, open access journal, aiming to create a wider interest in the life and works of Sylvia Townsend Warner. Scholarly articles and pieces by well-known contemporary writers describing their appreciation of Warner are published alongside previously unpublished archival works by Warner.

In addition to the journal, the society, with the support of UCL Press, host a bi-annual lecture offering the opportunity to hear from acclaimed writers whose work touches on Warner’s life and works. The previous four Sylvia Townsend Warner Lectures were given by Maud Ellmann (2017), Peter Swaab (2019), David Trotter (2021) and Claire Harman (2023). All essays are published by UCL Press in The Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society and are freely available online as open access publications. Lectures are also recorded and can be freely streamed online from the journal site, here.

Links

The Journal of the Society of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society: https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/stw/

The Society of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society: https://townsendwarner.com

UCL Press: https://www.uclpress.co.uk

Sylvia Townsend Warner Clare Harman Maud Ellmann Peter Swaab David Trotter Lolly Willowes The Espalier Valentine Ackland Communist Party of Great Britain