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John Cowper Powys

John Cowper Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, in 1872, and educated at Sherborne and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He became a lecturer in English Literature in about 1895, and continued this work, mainly in the United States, until about 1934, when he returned to England and settled in North Wales, where he died in 1963. His first book, a volume of poems, appeared in 1896 and was followed by others - poems, essays, philosophical commentary - but his success came when he turned to fiction. His novels include Wood and Stone (1915), Rodmoor (1916), Ducdame (1925), Wolf Solent (1929) and A Glastonbury Romance (1932).

In 1958 John Cowper Powys' stature as a major figure in European literature was recognized by the award to him of the Bronze Plaque of the Free Academy of Arts in Hamburg. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of letters by the University of Wales.