William Plomer
William Charles Franklyn Plomer
Born of British parents in Transvaal Colony, he moved to England in 1929 after spending a few years in Japan. Although not as well known as many of his peers, he is recognised as a
Early life
Parentage and South Africa
Plomer was born in
Edythe Plomer, née Waite-Browne
Edythe was a daughter of Edward Waite-Browne, of Cotgrave Place, Nottinghamshire, a "gentleman farmer" "who died young of consumption".[1] The widowed Mrs Waite-Browne employed French and English governesses for her daughters rather than sending them to school; despite "drawing lessons, dancing lessons, and music lessons", they learned no domestic skills (William Plomer observing "I doubt if they could have boiled a kettle, still less an egg"), and any purchases were directed through their mother, meaning "they had little idea of the value of money and knew nothing about business of any kind".[2] Whilst in South Africa, Edythe Plomer suffered health that was "indifferent from the start", falling ill and taking "some time to recover" from an operation.[3]
Charles Campbell Plomer
Charles Plomer- "an unwanted boy" who grew up into "a nervous, unstable man, prone to sudden, unreasonable fits of rage alternating with a great need for affection shown through hugs and kisses"- was a younger son of Colonel Alfred George Plomer, of the Indian Army, later resident at
William Plomer's upbringing
His father employed in the South African civil service Department of Native Affairs (per Plomer, "a civil servant goes where he is told, and naturally wants his family with him"),
The Plomer ancestry
Plomer's great-great-grandfather, Sir William Plomer (1760-1812), was Lord Mayor of London in 1781.[12] Plomer observed in his autobiography of his family: "it is not in the least illustrious, but a bourgeois line of which the fortunes have gone up and down and which has seldom stayed long in one place." The father of his great-uncle by marriage, both men being named William Downing Bruce, published a Plomer genealogy in 1847, claiming "traditionally they derive from a noble Saxon knight, who lived in the time of King Alfred"; Plomer looked disdainfully on this claim, calling it "fiddlesticks", based on nothing more than the fact that "Bruce's son... had married my great-aunt Louisa, and he probably wished to make out that this alliance was as distinguished as it was lucrative- for Louisa was something of an heiress". Lacking interest in "mere names and dates", he much preferred characters like "Christopher Plomer, a canon of Windsor... unfrocked and clapped into the Tower in 1535 for criticizing, as well he might, the behaviour of his royal master, Henry VIII".[13]
Plomer insisted on the pronunciation of his name as "ploomer" (to rhyme with "rumour"), although his family pronounced it in the usual way, rhyming with "Homer"; in his autobiography, Plomer addressed his rejection of the usual pronunciation, according to Christopher Heywood's A History of South African Literature (2004), this stemming from embarrassment at his father's occupation, and "hinting an ancestor's improbable job as plumier rather than plumber".[14][15]
Early work
He started writing his first novel, Turbott Wolfe, when he was just 21, which brought him fame (or notoriety) in the
1926: Japan
Plomer became a special correspondent for the
1929: England
He then travelled through Korea, China, the
In 1933 Plomer left Hogarth amicably (Selected Poems was published by Hogarth in 1940) and published The Child of Queen Victoria and Other Stories with Jonathan Cape.[14]
He became a literary editor for
From 1937, Plomer took part in
He is known to have used the pseudonym "Robert Pagan", notably for some of his poetry.[10]
He was also active as a
At least one source (Alexander) says that Plomer was never openly gay during his lifetime; at most he alluded to the subject.
Later life and death
He served as one of three judges with James Baldwin and Noni Jabavu, for a short story competition created by Nat Nakasa, launched in The Classic volume one, issue two (November 1968).[21]
In later life he collaborated with artist Alan Aldridge on a book of children’s verse, The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast.[10]
Plomer described himself as "Anglo-African-Asian" in a 1967 article of that name, nearly 40 years after his return to England.[14]
At the time of his death, his address was 43, Adastra Avenue in Hassocks, West Sussex;[22][23] another source gives Lewes, the location of a nearby hospital, as place of death.[10] He died on 20 September 1973 aged 69 in the arms of his partner of almost thirty years, Charles Erdmann.[10][24][25] The date given by Encyclopaedia Britannica and in the London Gazette is incorrect.[26][27]
Recognition, legacy
In 1951 Plomer was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[19]
He was awarded an honorary
In 1966 he chaired the panel of judges for the Cholmondeley Award.[19]
He won the
He was publicly tipped for the Poet Laureateship in 1967 and 1972.[19]
He was awarded a
In 1958 he was elected president of the
In 1976, the inaugural Mofolo-Plomer Prize, created by
Nadine Gordimer, in her introduction to a new edition of Turbott Wolfe in 2003, said that the novel deserved recognition as being in the "canon of renegade colonialist literature along with Conrad", and others have noted its experimental narrative structure, which puts it (along with some of his other work) in the category of a modernist novel.[14][10]
His last work, the collection of children's poems entitled The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast, won the 1973
Durham University has an extensive collection of Plomer's literary papers and correspondence, as well as his library of printed books, and lists a full bibliography on its website.[19]
A portrait of Plomer seated on a chair, in oils, dated 1929, by Edward Wolfe, and several photographs of Plomer, by Howard Coster and others are held by the National Portrait Gallery in London.[30]
Works
- 1925. Turbott Wolfe (novel)
- 1927. Notes for Poems. Hogarth Press, London (poetry)
- 1927. I Speak of Africa (short stories)
- 1929. The Family Tree. Hogarth, London (poetry)
- 1929. Paper Houses. Hogarth, London (short stories)
- 1931. Sado. Hogarth, London (novel)
- 1932. The Case is Altered (novel)
- 1932. The Fivefold Screen (poetry)
- 1933. The Child of Queen Victoria (short stories)
- 1933. Cecil Rhodes (biography)
- 1934. The Invaders (novel)
- 1936. Visiting the Caves. Cape, London (poetry)
- 1936. Ali the Lion (biography, reissued in 1970 as The Diamond of Janina)
- 1937. William Plomer (editor): Haruko Ichikawa: A Japanese Lady in Europe. Cape, London
- 1938. Selections from the Diary of the Rev. Francis Kilvert (1870–1879)
- 1940. Selected Poems. Hogarth, London
- 1942. In a Bombed House, 1941: Elegy in Memory of Anthony Butts (poetry)
- 1943. Double Lives: An Autobiography. Cape, London.
- 1945. Curious Relations. Cape, London. under pseudonym William D'Arfey. Collaboration with Anthony Butts (memoirs of Butts's family)
- 1945. The Dorking Thigh and Other Satires (poetry)
- 1949. Four Countries. Cape, London (short stories)
- 1952. Museum Pieces (novel)
- 1955. A Shot in the Park (poetry, published in U.S. as Borderline Ballads)
- 1958. At Home: Memoirs. Cape, London.
- 1960. Collected Poems. Cape, London.
- 1960. A Choice of Ballads (poetry)
- 1966. Taste and Remember (poetry)
- 1970. Celebrations (poetry)
- 1973. Collected Poems. Cape, London (expanded edition)
- 1973. "Butterfly Ball" Cape, London (Co author with Alan Aldridge)
- 1975. The Autobiography of William Plomer. Cape, London (revision of Double Lives, he died before he could rework At Home)
- 1978. Electric Delights. Selected and introduced by Rupert Hart-Davis. Cape, London (previously uncollected pieces, including the essay "On Not Answering the Telephone")[31]
Plomer's last poem Painted on Darkness[32]
References
Citations
- ^ Alexander 2004.
- ^ The Autobiography of William Plomer, William Plomer, Taplinger Publishing, 1976, p. 66
- ^ William Plomer- A Biography, Peter F. Alexander, Oxford University Press, 1989, pp. 3, 7
- ^ Double Lives, William Plomer, Noonday Press, 1956, p. 32
- ^ The Autobiography of William Plomer, William Plomer, Taplinger Publishing, 1976, p. 57
- ^ The Autobiography of William Plomer, William Plomer, Taplinger Publishing, 1976, pp. 44-59, 71
- ^ Double Lives, William Plomer, Noonday Press, 1956, p. 38
- ^ The Autobiography of William Plomer, William Plomer, Taplinger Publishing, 1976, pp. 78, 94
- ^ The Autobiography of William Plomer, William Plomer, Taplinger Publishing, 1976, p. 124
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cheney, Matthew. "William Plomer". Modernist Archives Publishing Project. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ A History of South African Literature, Christopher Heywood, Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 64
- ^ The Autobiography of William Plomer, Taplinger Publishing, 1976, p. 14
- ^ Double Lives, William Plomer, Noonday Press, 1956, pp. 13-14
- ^ a b c d e f g Southworth 2012.
- ^ A History of South African Literature, Christopher Heywood, Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 64
- ISBN 0 14 006798 1.
- ^ Alexander 1989, p. 143.
- ^ a b Griswold 2006, p. 243.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Details: Collection Level Description: Plomer Collection". Durham University. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ Alexander 1989, p. 194.
- ^ Letter from Nat Nakasa to Ezekiel Mphahlele, August 19, 1961; Nat Nakasa Papers, Wits Historical Papers, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- ^ Alexander 1989, p. 310+.
- ^ London Magazine, vol. 13, ed. John Lehmann, Alan Ross, 1973, p. 15
- ^ "Obituary". The Times. London. 22 September 1973. p. 16.
- ^ Shieff 2012, p. 454.
- ^ "William Plomer: South African writer". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- ^ "[List of deaths]" (PDF). London Gazette: 3636. 19 March 1974.
[Name] Plomer, William Charles Franklyn. [Address] 43 Adastra Avenue, Hassocks, Hassocks, Sussex. [Description] Author and poet. [DOD]
26thSeptember 1973. - ^ .
Published online: 24 Feb 2007
- ^ "Minister Paul Mashatile pays tribute to late Prof. Mbulelo Mzamane". Gov.za. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ Portraits of William Plomer at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- ^ Green 1978, p. 22.
- ^ Gardner, Kevin J. (9 May 2018). "Haunted Glass: A Review of Selected Poems by William Plomer". northamericanreview.org. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
Sources
- Alexander, Peter F. (1989). William Plomer: A Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-212243-8.
- Alexander, Peter F. (23 September 2004). "Plomer, William Charles Franklyn (1903–1973), poet and novelist". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31556. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Green, Benny (31 March 1978). "Dilemmas". The Spectator. p. 22.
- Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. ISBN 9781425931001.
- Shieff, Sarah (3 February 2012). Letters of Frank Sargeson. Auckland. ISBN 9781869793340.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Southworth, Helen (2012). Leonard and Virginia Woolf, The Hogarth Press and the Networks of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748669219. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
Further reading
- Allison, John (21 June 2013). "William Plomer: The forgotten link between Britten and Bond". The Daily Telegraph.
External links
- Portraits of William Plomer at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Plomer Collection at Durham University
- "William Plomer and Japan" in Japonisme, Orientalism, Modernism: A Critical Bibliography of Japan in English-Language Verse (themargins.net)
- William Plomer at Library of Congress, with 87 library catalogue records