Sylvia Townsend Warner

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-09-25

Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978) was an English novelist, poet and short-story writer, born at Harrow on the Hill, the only child of the Harrow School history master George Townsend Warner. Educated privately rather than at school, she first intended a career in music, and for ten years was the only woman on the editorial committee of the Carnegie UK Trust's Tudor Church Music project. Her first poetry collection, The Espalier, appeared in 1925, followed in 1926 by her first novel, Lolly Willowes, whose story of a single woman who turns to witchcraft made it an immediate success; it was the first selection of the American Book-of-the-Month Club and was shortlisted for the Femina Vie Heureuse Prize. Further novels included Mr Fortune's Maggot (1927), Summer Will Show (1936) and The Corner That Held Them (1948). From 1930 she lived in Dorset with the poet Valentine Ackland. In later life she became best known for her short stories, many first published in The New Yorker, and returned to the fantastic in her late collection Kingdoms of Elfin (1977).

Universe(s)

Books

• Lolly Willowes (1926) · Lolly Willowes Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 1 book
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 finalist mention)

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