T. F. Powys

Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), vicar of Montacute, Somerset, for 32 years, and Mary Cowper Johnson, grand-daughter of Dr John Johnson, cousin and close friend of the poet William Cowper. He was one of eleven talented siblings, including the novelist John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) and the novelist and essayist Llewelyn Powys (1884–1939). Their sister Philippa Powys also published a novel and some poetry, while Marian Powys was an authority on lace and lace-making and published a book on this subject. Gertrude Powys was a painter. Another brother, A. R. Powys, was secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and published a number of books on architectural subjects. from 1904 to 1940. A sensitive child, Powys was not happy in school and left when he was 15 to become an apprentice on a farm in Suffolk. The novels ''Mr. Weston's Good Wine (1927) and Unclay (1931) and the short-story collection Fables are most praised, while his early non-fiction work The Soliloquy of a Hermit'' (1916) also has its admirers. Among more recent writers, he admired Thomas Hardy, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Powys has been described by C. N. Manlove as one of the three main writers – along with C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams – of "Christian fantasy" in the 20th century. He died on 27 November 1953 in Mappowder, Dorset, where he was buried. ==Bibliography==

• Steinmann, Martin. T. F. Powys: A Thematic Study. Univ. of Minnesota., 1954. Ph.D Thesis. • Goldring, Frances J. T. F. Powys as an Allegorical Novelist. Dalhousie University, Dept. of English, 1969. M.A. Thesis. • Hoffman, David Edwin. A Comparative Study of J. C. Powys, T. F. Powys and Llewelyn Powys, with Special Reference to the Influence of Their Private Religions in Their Literary Work. King's College, London, Department of English, 1958. M.A. Thesis. == Articles and discussion ==

• Allen, Walter Ernest. The Short Story in English. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. • Cavaliero, Glen. The Rural Tradition in the English Novel, 1900–1939. London and New York: Macmillan, 1977. • ———. The Alchemy of Laughter: Comedy in English Fiction. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press; New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. • Gunnell, B. "T. F. Powys's Unclay, or the Unconditional Gift". Durham University Journal 85:1 (1993), 95. • Holbrook, David. "Two Welsh Writers: T. F. Powys and Dylan Thomas". In Boris Ford, ed., The Modern Age, vol. 7 of The Pelican Guide to English Literature. London: Penguin, 1964. • Van Kranendonk, A. G. '"T. F. Powys". English Studies 26:1 (1944), 97–107. • Rogers, John Headley. British Short-Fiction Writers, 1915–1945. British short-fiction writers, 1915–1945 [electronic resource] / John Headley Rogers, editor. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1996. • Steinmann, Martin. "Water and Animal Symbolism in T. F. Powys". English Studies 41:1 (1960), 359–365. • See also The Powys ReviewThe Powys Journal[http://www.powys-society.org/PDFs/Contents%20of%20The%20Powys%20Society%20Journal%201991.pdf, La letter powysienne , and Powys Notes for further articles, etc. ==Archives ==

• Harry Ransom Center, Theodore Francis Powys Collection. • Dorset Museum, Dorchester, Correspondence and literary papers. • British Library. Letters to Vera Wainwright, Add. MS 54330. • London University Library. Letters to Charles Lahr and literary mss. • National Library of Wales. Letters to John Cowper Powys. • University of Aberdeen Library. Letters to J. B. Chapman. The Powys Society's website has a comprehensive list of archives. ==References==