Anna Wickham: A Poet's Daring Life

Anna Wickham is a carefully researched, critical biography of ‘a major woman’ whose poetry reveals the forces that shaped female artists from the early twentieth century through the World Wars and beyond.–Phyllis Walsh, Editor and Publisher of Hummingbird Press, and Author of Lorine Niedecker: Solitary Player and River: A Haiku Sequence

Anna Wickham is an authoritative and much-needed biography of a neglected poet. Jones skillfully weaves the narrative of Wickham’s lonely childhood in Australia, a tempestuous marriage, and a vibrant poetic development with a social history spanning Edwardian England to the Second World War. We encounter a fascinating woman whose free spirit and self-doubt were in constant dialogue and conflict. This book also points us to Wickham’s invigorating poetry which was once internationally renowned. Like the poems, her life story will resonate with present day readers.–Dr. Jane Dowson, Author of Women, Modernism, and British Poetry, 1910-1939 and Editor of Frances Cornford: Selected Poems

A compelling, critically dextrous and long-overdue portrait of an important poet.–Anne Pender “Times Literary Supplement”

Jones does a good job not only of disclosing the initimate details of the poet’s tragic life but also of interweaving her poems through the narrative and paying special attention to her writing techniques.–Scott Hightower “Library Journal”

Jones has written a most striking and culturally informative biography of early twentieth-century poet Anna Wickham. Although she wrote in the rhymed iambic form of the time, Wickham’s sentiments were feminist, free, and adventuresome. She was able to combine her ‘wildness’ with domesticity and the mothering of four sons, as well as acting as an inspiration to the artists around her.–Joanne Kyger, Author of Again: Poems, 1989-2000 and As Ever: Selected Poems

Jones has written an absorbing biography of the larger-than-life yet ultimately tragic Anna Wickham, which is detailed and affectionate. It tells of an inspired woman who escaped from a tyrannical marriage into literature and literary society, including the Anglo-American lesbian world of Natalie Barney. Furthermore, it throws light on a poet who nurtured and encouraged many young poets, among them Malcolm Lowry, Lawrence Durrell, and Dylan Thomas. Like all worthwhile biographies, the story also gives the reader a slice of literary history. It draws one into the intriguing life of a woman who had to overcome the prejudices of a stifling age in order to register as a truly independent spirit with an original poetic voice.–Gordon Bowker, Author of Pursued by Furies: A Life of Malcolm Lowry and Through the Dark Labyrinth: A Biography of Lawrence Durrell

This excellent, meticulously researched, and well-written biography is a fascinating account of how a talented and unconventional woman struggled to become a fresh, lively, poetic voice while establishing close and intriguing friendships with some of the period’s significant literary and artistic figures. Jones’ compelling study is a sympathetic and critically acute exploration of the life and work of this long overlooked poet.–James G. Nelson, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin, and author of Publisher to the Decadents: Leonard Smithers in the Careers of Bea

Using interviews with the poet’s family, her works, and what can be found of her correspondence, Jones crafts an engaging account of the trials and successes of Wickham’s life.–Bethany Towne “Women’s Review of Books”