Theodore Francis Powys (20 December 1875 – 27 November 1953) – published as T. F. Powys – was a British novelist and short-story writer."Powys, Theodore Francis" in Christine L. Krueger, ''Encyclopedia of British Writers, 19th and 20th Centuries'' Infobase Publishing, 2009 (p. 303) He is best remembered for his allegorical novel ''

Mr. Weston's Good Wine ''Mr. Weston's Good Wine'' is a novel by T. F. Powys, first published in 1927. It describes an evening in 1923 when Mr. Weston, who is apparently a wine merchant, but is evidently God, visits the fictional village of Folly Down in Dorset, and me ...

'' (1927), where Weston the wine merchant is evidently God. Powys was influenced by the Bible, John Bunyan, Jonathan Swift and other writers of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as later writers such as

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Biography

Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), vicar of

Montacute Montacute is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 831 (2011 census). The name Montacute is thought by some to derive from the Latin "Mons Acutus", referrin ...

, 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 John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

(1872–1963) and the novelist and essayist

Llewelyn Powys Llewelyn Powys (13 August 1884 – 2 December 1939) was a British essayist, novelist and younger brother of John Cowper Powys and T. F. Powys. Family Powys was born in Dorchester, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), ...

(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. Sailors return, East Chaldon - geograph

A sensitive child, Powys was not happy in school and left when he was 15 to become an apprentice on a farm in Suffolk. Later he had his own farm in Suffolk, but he was not successful and returned to Dorset in 1901 with plans to be a writer. Then, in 1905, he married Violet Dodd. They had two sons and later adopted a daughter. From 1904 until 1940 Theodore Powys lived in

East Chaldon Chaldon Herring or East Chaldon is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, about south-east of the county town of Dorchester. It is sited from the coast in the chalk hills of the South Dorset Downs. The highest point in th ...

but then moved to Mappowder because of the war. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), Powys was one of several UK writers who campaigned for aid to be sent to the Republican side. The novels ''

'' (1927) and ''

Unclay ''Unclay'' is an Allegory, allegorical novel written by English writer T. F. Powys, first published in 1931. This was the last novel published during Powys' life. Background The word "unclay" that gave the title to Powys's novel comes from a po ...

'' (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. Powys was deeply, if unconventionally, religious; the Bible was a major influence, and he had a special affinity with writers of the 17th and 18th centuries, including John Bunyan, Miguel de Cervantes, Jeremy Taylor, Jonathan Swift, and Henry Fielding. Among more recent writers, he admired

, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Powys has been described by

C. N. Manlove Colin Nicholas Manlove (4 May 1942 in Falkirk – 1 June 2020) was a literary critic with a particular interest in fantasy. ''Modern Fantasy: Five Studies'' (1975, published as by C. N. Manlove), which considers at length works by Charles Kingsle ...

as one of the three main writers – along with

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

and Charles Williams – of "Christian fantasy" in the 20th century. He died on 27 November 1953 in Mappowder, Dorset, where he was buried.''Dictionary of National Biography''; Lawrence Mitchell. ''T. F. Powys: Aspects of a Life'' (Bishopstone, Hertfordshire: Brynmill Press, 2005).

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* ''An Interpretation of Genesis''. N.p.: Privately printed,1907. * ''The Soliloquy of a Hermit''. New York: G. Arnold Shaw, 1916 (''Soliloquies of a Hermit'' 1918). Available onlin

Novels

* ''Black Bryony''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1923; New York: Knopf, 1923. * ''Mark Only''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1924; New York: Knopf, 1924. * ''Mr Tasker's Gods''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1925; New York: Knopf, 1925. * ''Mockery Gap''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1925; New York: Knopf, 1925. * ''

''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1927; New York: Viking, 1927. * ''Kindness in a Corner''. London : Chatto and Windus, 1930; New York: Viking, 1930. * ''

''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1931; New York: Viking, 1932. * ''The Market Bell'', edited with notes by Ian Robinson, assisted by Elaine Mencher; with an afterword by J. Lawrence Mitchell. Doncaster, South Yorkshire : Brynmill Press, 1991.

Story collections

(including novellas) * ''The Left Leg''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1923; New York: Knopf, 1923. Available onlin

* ''Innocent Birds''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1926; New York: Knopf, 1926. * ''The House With the Echo: Twenty-six Stories''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1928; New York: Viking, 1928. * ''Fables''. New York: Viking, 1929; London: Chatto and Windus, 1929 (''No Painted Plumage'', 1934). * ''The White Paternoster, and Other Stories''. London, Chatto & Windus, 1930; New York: Viking,1931. * ''The Only Penitent''. London, Chatto & Windus, 1931 (The Dolphin Books series). * ''The Two Thieves'' (containing "In Good Earth", "God", "The Two Thieves"). London: Chatto and Windus, 1932; New York: Viking, 1933. * ''Captain Patch: Twenty-one Stories''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1935. * ''Bottle's Path, and Other Stories''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1946. * ''God's Eyes A-Twinkle'' (an anthology of the stories of T. F. Powys, with a preface by Charles Prentice). London, Chatto & Windus, 1947. * ''Rosie Plum, and Other Stories'', ed. F. Powys. London, Chatto & Windus, 1966. * ''Come Dine, and Tadnol'', ed. A. P. Riley. Hastings: R.A. Brimmell, 1967 * ''Father Adam''. Doncaster: Brynmill, 1990. * ''Mock's Curse: Nineteen Stories'', selected and edited by Elaine & Barrie Mencher. Norfolk: Brynmill, 1995. * ''The Sixpenny Strumpet'' (with tales from ''The Two Thieves''). Harleston: Brynmill, 1997. * ''Selected Early Works of T. F. Powys''. Brynmill Press, 2003. In addition some single stories were also published as books during the 1920s and 1930s.

Theses

* 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 lectronic 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 Review

''The Powys Journal

''La letter powysienne'

and ''Powys Notes'' for further articles, etc.

References

External links

The Powys Society

The Brynmill Press
*
"Bookmarks: John Gray on T. F. Powys"
article in the ''New Statesman'' * Philosopher John Gray, "The Paradox of Immortality

"T. F. Powys, an English Tolstoy?"
article in the ''TLS'' by Michael Caines
Hermit of 'The House in the Pasture'
Obituary article about T. F. Powys by his son, Francis Powys.
Manuscripts and Book Collections relating to members of the Powys family at the University of Exeter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powys, Theodore F. 1875 births 1953 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists Burials in Dorset English Christians English fantasy writers English male novelists English male short story writers English short story writers People from Derbyshire Dales (district)