Stevie Smith and Authorship

This book is a full-length study of the British novelist, poet, and illustrator Stevie Smith (1902-1971). It draws on extensive archival material to offer new insights into her work, challenging the notion of her as a dotty eccentric to reveal an author with a shrewd talent for self-promotion. It re-evaluates her illustrated poetry, shows how she used book reviews to generate responses to her own work, and considers her critical reception in the light of her own views on reading and interpretation.