William Plomer
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William Charles Franklyn Plomer (10 December 1903 – 20 September 1973) was a South African and British novelist, poet and
literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.
. He also wrote a series of
libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
s for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
. He wrote some of his poetry under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Robert Pagan. 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
modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
and his work was highly esteemed by other writers, including
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
and
Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
. He was
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, and at least one of his novels portrays a gay relationship, but whether he lived as openly gay himself is unclear.


Early life: South Africa

Plomer was born in
Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...
, in the
Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...
(now
Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...
in the
Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...
of South Africa) on 10 December 1903, to Charles Campbell Plomer (d. 1955) and Edythe, daughter of farmer Edward Waite-Browne. His parents were English; his father was a colonial
civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, formerly apprenticed in the wool trade, and the family moved between England and South Africa several times during Plomer's youth, with Plomer educated mostly in the UK, until his father left the civil service and took over a trading station in the Zululand region, later a recruiting agent for mine workers at Natal, which his son considered a descent in status. Plomer's great-great-grandfather, Sir William Plomer (1760-1812), was
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
in 1781. 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 Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
". Plomer insisted on the pronunciation of his name as "" (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". He started writing his first novel, ''Turbott Wolfe'', when he was just 21, which brought him fame (or notoriety) in the
Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...
upon publication in 1925, which had inter-racial love and marriage as a theme. He was co-founder, editor and major contributor of the short-lived literary magazine ''
Voorslag ''Voorslag'' (''Whiplash'') was a literary journal published in Durban, South Africa in 1926 and 1927. It was the first modern small magazine in South Africa and was subtitled "A Magazine of South African Life and Art". The magazine was founded by ...
'' ("Whiplash") with two other South African rebels, Roy Campbell and
Laurens van der Post Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in Jun ...
in 1926. It included material in both English and
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
, and intended to publish in the
Zulu language Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal o ...
, and also attempted to portray the more superior standards of European culture, while promoting a racially equal South Africa. Campbell resigned in protest against the editorial control exerted by the financial backer of the magazine. It never gained a wide readership.


1926: Japan

Plomer became a special correspondent for the ''
Natal Witness ''The Witness'' (previously ''The Natal Witness'') is a daily newspaper published in Pietermaritzburg. It mainly serves readers in Pietermaritzburg, Durban and the inland areas of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the oldest continuously pu ...
'', but after Van der Post had met and befriended two Japanese men, one being the Japanese captain of a yacht, Katsue Mori, he and Plomer sailed for Japan in September 1926, Plomer leaving South Africa for the last time. Plomer stayed in Japan until March 1929, completing two volumes of short stories (''I speak of Africa'' and ''Paper Houses'') as well as a collection of poetry. He became friends with academic, poet and author Sherard Vines. There he fell in love with a Japanese man, Morito Fukuzawa, who became the model for the title character of ''Sado''.


1929: England

He then travelled through Korea, China, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, Poland, Germany, and Belgium to England and, through his friendship with his publisher
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
and husband
Leonard Woolf Leonard Sidney Woolf (; – ) was a British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant. He was married to author Virginia Woolf. As a member of the Labour Party and the Fabian Society, Woolf was an avid publisher of his own work ...
, entered the London literary circles. Among his friends there were
Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...
,
W.H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, Forster, J.R. Ackerley and
Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the ...
. The Woolfs, under their imprint the
Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and now ...
, published ''Sado'' in 1931 and ''The Case is Altered'' in 1932, the latter becoming his most commercially successful novel. 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 Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...
. He became a literary editor for
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, and became chief
reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
and literary adviser to Jonathan Cape from 1937 to 1940, where he recognised the saleability of, and edited the first and many more of
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
's
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
series. Fleming dedicated '' Goldfinger'' to Plomer. From 1937, Plomer took part in
BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
broadcasts, and contributed to the
Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festival Th ...
from its start in 1948. From the late 1950s, he contributed to frequent poetry readings and events, served on the Arts Council and the board of the
Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...
. He is known to have used the pseudonym "Robert Pagan", notably for some of his poetry. He was also active as a
librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
, with ''
Gloriana ''Gloriana'', Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ''Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History''. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera Ho ...
'', ''
Curlew River ''Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance'' (Op. 71) is an English music drama, with music by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by William Plomer. The first of Britten's three 'Parables for Church Performance', the work is based on the ...
'', ''
The Burning Fiery Furnace ''The Burning Fiery Furnace'' is an English music drama with music composed by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 77, to a libretto by William Plomer. One of Britten's three ''Parables for Church Performances'', this work received its premiere at the St ...
'' and '' The Prodigal Son'' for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
. At least one source (Alexander) says that Plomer was never openly gay during his lifetime; at most he alluded to the subject. However Southworth says that he lived relatively openly as a
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
in Japan, and portrayed gay relationships in a number of his novels, including ''Sado'', ''The Case is Altered'', and ''The Invaders''.


Later life, death

In later life he collaborated with artist
Alan Aldridge Alan Aldridge (8 July 1938 – 17 February 2017) was a British artist, graphic designer and illustrator. He is best known for his psychedelic artwork made for books and record covers by The Beatles and The Who. Personal life Aldridge was born ...
on a book of children’s verse, ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast''. Plomer described himself as "Anglo-African-Asian" in a 1967 article of that name, nearly 40 years after his return to England. The England and Wales National Probate Calendar records that at the time of his death, his address was 43, Adastra Avenue in
Hassocks Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields. Located approximately north of Brighton, with a populatio ...
, West Sussex (Cuckfield Vol 5H, Page 547, 3rd Quarter of 1973); another source gives Lewes, the location of a nearby hospital, as place of death. He died on 20 September 1973 aged 69 in the arms of his partner of almost thirty years, Charles Erdmann. The date given by Encyclopaedia Britannica and in the ''London Gazette'' is incorrect.


Recognition, legacy

In 1951 Plomer was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...
. He was awarded an honorary
D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...
by the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
in 1959. In 1966 he chaired the panel of judges for the
Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...
. He won the
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...
in 1963. He was publicly tipped for the Poet Laureateship in 1967 and 1972. He was awarded a
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in 1968. In 1958 he was elected president of the
Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...
. In 1976, the inaugural Mofolo-Plomer Prize, created by
Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
and so named in honour of
Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...
writer
Thomas Mofolo Thomas Mokopu Mofolo (22 December 1876 – 8 September 1948) is considered the greatest Basotho author. He wrote mostly in the Sesotho language, but his most popular book, '' Chaka'', has been translated into English and other languages. Biography ...
and Plomer, was awarded to
Mbulelo Mzamane Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane (28 July 1948 – 16 February 2014) was a South African author, poet, and academic. He was described by the late President Nelson Mandela as a "visionary leader and one of South Africa’s greatest intellectuals". ...
. The judges for that year were
Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...
,
Alan Paton Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''. Family Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...
and
Adam Small Adam Small (21 December 1936 – 25 June 2016) was a South African writer who was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement and other activism. He was noted as a Coloured writer who wrote works in Afrikaans that dealt with racial discriminatio ...
. Since then,
Achmat Dangor Achmat Dangor (2 October 1948 – 6 September 2020) was a South African writer, poet, and development professional. His most important works include the novels ''Kafka's Curse'' (1997) and '' Bitter Fruit'' (2001). He was also the author of thre ...
,
J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...
, Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele, Rose Zwi and Peter Wilhelm have been other recipients of the prize.
Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
, 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 Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
novel. His last work, the collection of children's poems entitled ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast'', won the 1973
Whitbread Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...
.
Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...
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. A portrait of Plomer seated on a chair, in
oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, dated 1929, by
Edward Wolfe Lieutenant General Edward Wolfe (1685 – 26 March 1759) was a British army officer who saw action in the War of the Spanish Succession, 1715 Jacobite rebellion and the War of Jenkins' Ear. He is best known as the father of James Wolfe, famous for ...
, and several photographs of Plomer, by
Howard Coster Howard Sydney Musgrave Coster (27 April 1885 – 17 November 1959) was a British photographer, opening a London studio in 1926. He was a self-styled 'Photographer of Men'. Collections After a childhood in the Isle of Wight, he was introduced t ...
and others are held by the National Portrait Gallery in London.


Works

* 1925. ''Turbott Wolfe'' (novel) * 1927. ''Notes for Poems''.
Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and now ...
, 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 Robert Francis Kilvert (3 December 184023 September 1879), known as Francis or Frank, was an English clergyman whose diaries reflected rural life in the 1870s, and were published over fifty years after his death. Life Kilvert was born on 3 ...
'' (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 Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, f ...
. Cape, London (previously uncollected pieces, including the essay "On Not Answering the Telephone")


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links

*
Plomer Collection
at
Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

"William Plomer and Japan"
in ''Japonisme, Orientalism, Modernism: A Critical Bibliography of Japan in English-Language Verse'' (themargins.net) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plomer, William 1903 births 1973 deaths 20th-century British poets 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century South African novelists Benjamin Britten British literary editors British male poets British opera librettists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British gay writers LGBT novelists LGBT writers from South Africa Place of birth missing Place of death missing South African male novelists South African poets People from Hassocks People from Polokwane South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Presidents of the Poetry Society