Edith Sitwell

Edith Sitwell (September 7 1887-December 9 1964) was an English poet and critic.

She was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, of aristocratic but eccentric parentage (Lord and Lady Sitwell of Renishaw Hall). She published her first poem in 1913 and between 1916 and 1921 edited Wheels, a poetic anthology. Façade, published in 1922, and set to music by William Walton, was received with bemusement by the public.

She became a proponent and supporter of innovative trends in English poetry, and opposed what she considered the conventionalism of many contemporary backward-looking poets. She received a Royal Society of Literature medal in 1933, and became a Dame in 1954. In 1955 she became a Roman Catholic. She died at the age of 77.