Stevie Smith
Smith was primarily a poet but her three novels, especially Novel on Yellow Paper, are important works of experimental English fiction. Her quirky, oblique humour combined with genuine melancholy is unique in English literature.
Works
- Novel on Yellow PaperSemi-autobiographical novel of a young woman's witty commentary on work and love
- Over the FrontierNovel of a woman's escape into a dreamlike frontier where politics and passion collide
- The HolidayNovel exploring the dark undercurrents of family relationships and social observation
- A Good Time Was Had by AllCollection of witty, acerbic poems on love, death, and human follies
- Harold's LeapCollection of darkly humorous poems on childhood, religion, and disappointment
- Not Waving but DrowningCollection of sardonic poems including the famous title poem on despair
- The Frog Prince and Other PoemsCollection of witty and whimsical poems reworking traditional fairy tale motifs