Sylvia Townsend Warner Statue Unveiled

 

A statue of the English writer, poet and musicologist Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978) was unveiled in Dorchester, Dorset, on Sunday, 14th December. 

Her work blended wit, subversion, and a quietly radical imagination. She is often celebrated as a feminist and queer literary figure, though she herself resisted labels. Her debut novel, Lolly Willowes (1926) became a sensation. It follows a woman who escapes her suffocating family to become a witch—an early, slyly feminist narrative about autonomy and refusal.

Warner wrote novels, poetry, biographies, translations, and over 140 stories for The New Yorker. Her fiction often blends the domestic with the uncanny, the political with the intimate. Significant works include: The Corner That Held Them (1948),  Kingdoms of Elfin (1977). Numerous short stories, many now considered modern classics.

A committed leftist, Warner was active in anti-fascist movements and wrote with a clear sympathy for women’s independence, queer lives, and the marginalised. Her feminism is subtle, ironic, and deeply character-driven rather than polemical.

She lived for nearly 40 years with the poet Valentine Ackland, forming one of the most significant lesbian literary partnerships of the 20th century.

The statue was sculpted by: Denise Dutton.

Further reading: The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society

Lolly Willowes is available to read here: Lolly Willowes : or, the loving huntsman by Sylvia Townsend Warner | Project Gutenberg

Photos: With thanks to Heather Newland