Winifred Holtby

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Standard Name: Holtby, Winifred
Birth Name: Winifred Holtby
WH 's posthumous reputation is based on her final novel, South Riding, published after her death. During her lifetime, she was better known as a prominent journalist, invited by Virginia Woolf in February 1935 to write her autobiography for the Hogarth Press .
Shaw, Marion. The Clear Stream: A Life of Winifred Holtby. Virago.
1

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
politics Virginia Woolf
Uncomfortable with marks of public recognition, VW developed a theory of the artistic and political benefits of anonymity. She expressed some measure of dissatisfaction, for instance, first with Stephen Tomlin 's 1931 bust of her...
Reception Virginia Woolf
The first study of VW was that of Winifred Holtby in October 1932. Those future writers who did work on VW during their student days have included Mary Lavin and Michèle Barrett . In 1992...
Textual Production Amabel Williams-Ellis
Contributors included Nancy Cunard , Winifred Holtby , Storm Jameson , Pamela Hansford Johnson , Naomi Mitchison , Sylvia Townsend Warner , W. H. Auden , John Lehmann , and John Strachey .
Publishing Dorothy Whipple
DW must have been writing and publishing stories before her first novel appeared, since she was working on High Wages when her Miss Boddy was printed in Everyman and she recorded it as her first...
Literary responses Dorothy Whipple
On its first appearance DW felt this to be an adequate, rather commonplace novel.
Whipple, Dorothy. Random Commentary. Michael Joseph.
47
J. B. Priestley wrote: A grand novel, with a good shape to it . . . . Your women are...
Textual Production Evelyn Waugh
He had written it between September 1931 and May 1932.
Waugh, Evelyn. Black Mischief. Little, Brown and Company.
312
He dedicated it to a pair of aristocratic friends, Ladies Mary and Dorothy Lygon . It appeared a few months before Winifred Holtby 's...
politics Sylvia Townsend Warner
Warner and Ackland were members of publisher Victor Gollancz 's Left Book Club , and wrote assiduously for left-wing papers and magazines. (After the second world war, however, Ackland developed divergent and comparatively right-wing views.)...
Education Doreen Wallace
At Somerville DW became a close friend of Dorothy Sayers (their religious and political disagreements later drove them apart) and in her circle met Vera Brittain , Winifred Holtby , and theSitwells .
Leonardi, Susan J. Dangerous by Degrees: Women at Oxford and the Somerville College Novelists. Rutgers University Press.
57
Friends, Associates Doreen Wallace
DW 's close friendships with Winifred Holtby and Leon Geach lasted until their untimely deaths. But that with Dorothy Sayers ended in estrangement on religious and political grounds: the final straw was apparently DW 's...
Publishing Doreen Wallace
Before the publication of her first novel, DW was already, by grace of my dear friend Winifred Holtby , a contributor of short stories to Time and Tide.
Shepherd, June. Doreen Wallace, 1897-1989: Writer and Social Campaigner. Edwin Mellen Press.
49
Intertextuality and Influence Elizabeth Taylor
As a child Betty Coles (later ET ) wrote plays (with very short scenes each demanding a new and elaborate setting) and stories. She said she always wanted to be a novelist.
Leclercq, Florence. Elizabeth Taylor. Twayne.
2
At twelve...
Friends, Associates Annie S. Swan
During the 1930s ASS became a friend and correspondent of Winifred Holtby . They exchanged copies of their books. After Holtby's early death a correspondence developed between ASS and Vera Brittain .
Swan, Annie S. The Letters of Annie S. Swan. Editor Nicoll, Mildred Robertson, Hodder and Stoughton.
164-5, 171, 249
Reception Annie S. Swan
Though her married name on the title-page was unusual, her usual readers identified Swan as the author and were appalled. They felt personally betrayed, and did not forgive her. A minister's wife told her of...
Literary responses Annie S. Swan
Among this book's admirers was Winifred Holtby , who had proffered advice from herself and Vera Brittain not to worry about reviews, and who then wrote favourable ones herself for both Good Housekeeping and Time...
Occupation Mary Stott
Following in the footsteps of Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby , MS became first virtual, then titular Editor of the Women's Page for the Manchester Guardian (latterly the Guardian).
Stott, Mary. Forgetting’s No Excuse. Faber and Faber.
63-4

Timeline

1 December 1881: The Schoolmistress, devoted to the furtherance...

Writing climate item

1 December 1881

The Schoolmistress, devoted to the furtherance of female education, began weekly publication in London.

14 May 1920: Time and Tide began publication, offering...

Building item

14 May 1920

Time and Tide began publication, offering a feminist approach to literature, politics, and the arts: Naomi Mitchison called it the first avowedly feminist literary journal with any class, in some ways ahead of its time.
Mitchison, Naomi. You May Well Ask: A Memoir 1920-1940. Gollancz.
168

May 1922: Madeline Linford launched the Manchester...

Building item

May 1922

Madeline Linford launched the Manchester Guardianwomen's page, which she produced on her own, with no editorial assistant. It was temporarily suspended during the Second World War.

September 1929: The Open Door, campaigning for the economic...

Building item

September 1929

The Open Door, campaigning for the economic emancipation of the woman worker, began publication in London.

1 October 1932: The British Union of Fascists was founded...

Building item

1 October 1932

The British Union of Fascists was founded by Sir Oswald Mosley .

4 September 1935: The Schoolmistress ceased publication when...

Building item

4 September 1935

The Schoolmistress ceased publication when it merged with Woman's Teacher's World.

November 1939: Open Door, a journal about women's employment,...

National or international item

November 1939

Open Door, a journal about women's employment, ended publication.

10 September 2003: Guardian Unlimited Books named as Site of...

Writing climate item

10 September 2003

Guardian Unlimited Books named as Site of the Week a website entitled Poetry Landmarks of Britain: a map of poetic assocations plotted on an interactive map of Britain, searchable by region or category.

Texts

Holtby, Winifred. Anderby Wold. John Lane, 1923.
Holtby, Winifred. “Foreword”. Pavements at Anderby, edited by Hilda Stewart Reid and Vera Brittain, Collins, 1937, pp. 9-11.
Cadogan, Mary, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. Anderby Wold, Virago, 1981, p. ix - xix.
Hardisty, Claire, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. The Crowded Street, Virago, 1981, p. ix - xiii.
Shaw, Marion, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. Mandoa, Mandoa!, Virago, 1982, p. ix - xix.
Davidson, George, and Winifred Holtby. “Introduction”. Poor Caroline, Virago, 1985, p. xi - xvii.
Holtby, Winifred. Letters to a Friend. Editors Holtby, Alice and Jean McWilliam, Collins, 1937.
Holtby, Winifred. Mandoa! Mandoa!: A Comedy of Irrelevance. Collins, 1933.
Holtby, Winifred. Mandoa! Mandoa!: A Comedy of Irrelevance. Virago Press, 1982.
Holtby, Winifred. My Garden, and Other Poems. A. Brown, 1911.
Holtby, Winifred. Pavements at Anderby. Editors Reid, Hilda Stewart and Vera Brittain, Collins, 1937.
Holtby, Winifred. Poor Caroline. Jonathan Cape, 1931.
Holtby, Winifred, and George Davidson. Poor Caroline. Virago, 1985.
Holtby, Winifred. South Riding: An English Landscape. Collins, 1936.
Holtby, Winifred. South Riding: An English Landscape. Fontana/Collins, 1986.
Holtby, Winifred et al. Take Back Your Freedom. Editor Ginsbury, Norman, Jonathan Cape, 1939.
Brittain, Vera, and Winifred Holtby. Testament of a Generation. Editors Berry, Paul and Alan Bishop, Virago, 1985.
Holtby, Winifred. The Astonishing Island. Lovat Dickson, 1933.
Holtby, Winifred. The Crowded Street. John Lane, 1924.
Holtby, Winifred. The Crowded Street. Virago, 1981.
Holtby, Winifred. The Frozen Earth, and Other Poems. Collins, 1935.
Holtby, Winifred. The Land of Green Ginger. Jonathan Cape, 1927.
Holtby, Winifred. Truth Is Not Sober. W. Collins, 1934.
Holtby, Winifred. Virginia Woolf: A Critical Memoir. Wishart, 1932.