Author Description

William Plomer (1903-73) was a novelist and literary figure of reputation, author of the powerful novel of miscegenation Turbott Wolfe, founder of the magazine Voorslag, principal reader for the Publisher Jonathan Cape, and a homosexual. Here, Alexander paints a fascinating portrait of this man, from his beginnings in turn-of-the-century South Africa to his rise to literary and publishing prominence in England in the 1930s and 40s. Dealing frankly with all areas of Plomer's private and professional life and the central role his homosexuality played in them, this book looks at his success at bringing such authors as Vladimir Nabokov and Ian Fleming to prominence, his work as editor of Francis Kilvert's diaries, his librettos for several of Benjamin Britten's operas, including Gloriana, and his other literary works, which include five novels and ten volumes of verse.