大象传媒

Julia Copus explores the poetry and life of the only born and bred Bloomsbury poet.

Thomas Hardy wrote that Charlotte Mew was "Far and away the best living woman poet - who will be remembered when others are forgotten." Siegfried Sassoon said that she was "the only poet who can give me a lump in my throat," while Virginia Woolf called her "the greatest living poetess".

Although she lived in Bloomsbury all her life, she was never part of the Bloomsbury set and, when Charlotte Mew died in 1928 aged 59, a small notice in a London paper described her simply as "Charlotte Mary New, 53" - the name and the age both wrong.

But to those who knew her, Charlotte Mew was a compelling, at times mischievous and groundbreaking poet, whose writing was full of sea-breezes, lamp-lit streets, human voices, and the sudden stark contrasts between sound and silence, between life and death.

Her dramatic monologue The Farmer's Bride caused a sensation in literary circles when it was published in 1912, dramatising the terrifying story of a young woman trapped in a powerless arranged marriage, who is literally locked away.

Julia explores how Charlotte Mew broke the mould of contemporary styles in the early 20th century and created a unique poetic voice.

Producer: Jo Wheeler
Reader: Raquel Cassidy

A Freewheel production for 大象传媒 Radio 4