Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Rebecca West
-
Standard Name: West, Rebecca
Birth Name: Cicily Isabel Fairfield
Nickname: Cissie
Nickname: Anne
Nickname: Panther
Nickname: Rac
Pseudonym: Rebecca West
Married Name: Cicily Isabel Andrews
Used Form: R*b*cc* W*st
Rebecca West
rose to fame early (before the First World War) through her witty, acerbic journalism. In addition to numerous essays and reviews, she wrote about a dozen novels, short stories, political analyses, a classic travel book, and works of literary criticism. Her journalism remains an important commentary on the contemporary women's movement, offering both strong intellectual support and trenchant satire. She is known for her pungency of phrase; on occasion she was more eager for a phrase to strike shockingly home than for it to withstand criticism.
Once settled in a larger house more suited to entertaining, CADS
renewed old friendships and made new ones with luminaries in London literary society, including Beatrice Harraden
, Arthur Waugh
, H. G. Wells
,...
VH
met and was fascinated by Rebecca West
, who had recently written a review Hunt called a column of wit and innuendo—as destructive as a prairie fire.
Belford, Barbara. Violet. Simon and Schuster.
193-4
Friends, Associates
May Sinclair
Her articles and critical reviews were encouraging for many writers, including T. S. Eliot
.
Scott, Bonnie Kime. Refiguring Modernism. Indiana University Press.
85
Sinclair also made the acquaintance of other women writers, including Alice Meynell
, Ida Wylie
(a close friend), Rebecca West
Grant, Joy. Stella Benson: A Biography. Macmillan.
251
Friends, Associates
Violet Hunt
VH
greatly admired West
, and used their interaction as a spring board from which she delved into issues about women and writing. In 1926, for instance, she compared West physically and intellectually to George Sand
As editor, HSW
attempted to recruit Storm Jameson
for the paper, but Jameson unhappily could not accept a full-time position. She also began to acquaint herself with contributors, such as H. D.
, whom she...
Friends, Associates
Dora Marsden
During the 1920s DM
's primary focus was her writing, which she continued mainly in isolation and under much mental and physical stress. However, she was assisted in this by Harriet Shaw Weaver
and Sylvia Beach
Friends, Associates
Mary Butts
A party at MB
's flat at 43 Belsize Park Gardens in London was attended by Evelyn Waugh
, G. B. Stern
, and Rebecca West
.
Blaser, Robin et al. “Afterword”. Imaginary Letters, Talonbooks, pp. 61-80.