William Plomer
Encyclopedia
William Charles Franklyn Plomer CBE
(he pronounced the surname as ploomer) (1903–1973) was a South Africa
n author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He was educated mostly in the United Kingdom
. Plomer edited several of Ian Fleming
's James Bond
novels in the 1950s and 60s.
He became famous in South Africa with his first novel, Turbott Wolfe, which had inter-racial love and marriage as a theme. He was co-founder of the short-lived literary magazine Voorslag
("Whiplash") with two other South African rebels, Roy Campbell
and Laurens van der Post
; it promoted a racially equal South Africa.
He spent the period from October 1926 to March 1929 in Japan
, where he was friendly with Sherard Vines
. There, according to biographers, he was in a same-sex relationship with a Japanese man. He was never openly gay during his lifetime; at most he alluded to the subject.
He then moved to England, and through his friendship with his publisher Virginia Woolf
, entered the London literary circles. He became an important literary editor, for Faber and Faber
http://www.masterliness.com/a/Faber.Faber.htm, and was a literary adviser to Jonathan Cape
http://www.answers.com/topic/william-plomer. He was active as a librettist, with Gloriana
, Curlew River
, The Burning Fiery Furnace
and The Prodigal Son
for Benjamin Britten
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(he pronounced the surname as ploomer) (1903–1973) was a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He was educated mostly in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Plomer edited several of Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels in the 1950s and 60s.
He became famous in South Africa with his first novel, Turbott Wolfe, which had inter-racial love and marriage as a theme. He was co-founder of the short-lived literary magazine Voorslag
Voorslag
Voorslag was a literary journal published in Durban, South Africa in 1926 and 1927. It was founded by Roy Campbell and William Plomer; Laurens van der Post was invited to become Afrikaans...
("Whiplash") with two other South African rebels, Roy Campbell
Roy Campbell (poet)
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
and Laurens van der Post
Laurens van der Post
Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE was a 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and...
; it promoted a racially equal South Africa.
He spent the period from October 1926 to March 1929 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where he was friendly with Sherard Vines
Sherard Vines
Walter Sherard Vines was an English writer and academic who wrote poetry, novels, and criticism.He was born in Oxford and educated at Magdalen College School and New College, Oxford. He was published in Oxford Poetry, and took an academic position at Belfast University in 1914. He served in the...
. There, according to biographers, he was in a same-sex relationship with a Japanese man. He was never openly gay during his lifetime; at most he alluded to the subject.
He then moved to England, and through his friendship with his publisher Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, entered the London literary circles. He became an important literary editor, for Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
http://www.masterliness.com/a/Faber.Faber.htm, and was a literary adviser to Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
http://www.answers.com/topic/william-plomer. He was active as a librettist, with Gloriana
Gloriana
Gloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Elizabeth and Essex by Lytton Strachey...
, Curlew River
Curlew River
Curlew River — A Parable for Church Performance is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese noh play Sumidagawa of Juro Motomasa , which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956...
, The Burning Fiery Furnace
The Burning Fiery Furnace
The Burning Fiery Furnace is one of the three Parables for Church Performances composed by Benjamin Britten, dating from 1966, and is his Opus 77. The other two 'church parables' are Curlew River and The Prodigal Son . William Plomer was the librettist.The work was premiered at Orford Church,...
and The Prodigal Son
The Prodigal Son (Britten)
The Prodigal Son is an opera by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by William Plomer. Based on the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son, this was Britten's third "parable for church performance", after Curlew River and The Burning Fiery Furnace. Britten dedicated the score to Dmitri Shostakovich.The...
for Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
.
External links
- Picture of Plomer from the National Portrait Gallery.
- William Plomer and Japan; themargins.net.