Paul Verlaine
French poet. Born Metz, France. Has been described as an ugly, homicidal alcoholic. He effectively eloped from his own marriage to live with Rimbaud. Following his imprisonment for attempted murder...
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Statesman and poet. Born at the family home Wallingford House (where the Old Admirality Building now is). A baby when his father, the 1st Duke, was assassinated, he was brought up alongside Charles...
Arthur Waley
Poet, translator and orientalist. He never actually visited China nor Japan.
Theodore Watts-Dunton
Writer and poet. Born at St Ives in the former county of Huntingdonshire as Walter Theodore Watts. He later added his mother's maiden surname. He had a particular interest in gypsy lore and publish...
Phillis Wheatley
American writer who was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Her name can also be given as Phillis Wheatley Peters or Phyllis or Wheatly. Born in West Africa, she was s...
Lady Jane Francesca Wilde
Born Dublin. Mother of Oscar Wilde. Poet under the pseudonym ‘Speranza’. Supporter of the Irish nationalist movement and advocate of women’s rights. Died 146 (now 87) Oakley Street.
Oscar Wilde
Born in Dublin as Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wills Wilde. 'Importance of Being Earnest', 'Picture of Dorian Gray', etc. A flamboyant aesthete, he may have been Grossmith's model for the character Bunt...
Person, Gender Issues, Literature, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Theatre, France, Ireland
Charles Williams
Writer on literature and theology, novelist and poet. Born Charles Walter Stansby Williams, 3 Spencer Road. He worked for the Oxford University Press (OUP) in various capacities for most of his lif...
Thomas Woolner
Sculptor and poet. Born Hadleigh Suffolk. Early member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Emigrated to Australia 1852-3 for economic reasons. Buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Hendon.
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