‘A Strong Explosion in the Sky’: Stevie Smith, Reputation and Re-evaluation: A Creative Critical Thesis

Alvi, Moniza (2023) ‘A Strong Explosion in the Sky’: Stevie Smith, Reputation and Re-evaluation: A Creative Critical Thesis. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

Preview

PDF Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

This thesis argues that Stevie Smith (1902–1971) was undervalued in her lifetime and beyond as an unconventional woman poet writing in a very male-dominated poetry world and this has adversely affected her current reputation. I show her to be a poet of stature who made a unique contribution to English poetry, opening it up in risk-taking, anarchic and subtle ways. She is a poet of contemporary relevance, with the complexity of Elizabeth Bishop and Sylvia Plath, her post-war contemporaries, in comparison with whom, despite increased scholarly interest, she is still under-recognised. Although her touch is often playful, her poetry is ultimately probing and serious. I address a biographical shortfall and show how childhood events, clinically defined as traumatic, contribute to an understanding of Smith and her poetry. Countering a reductive emphasis on her eccentricity, I consider aspects of her adult life and reveal the woman behind the myth. Via a study of her neglected work as a prolific book reviewer and its importance to her poetry, I underline her intellectual life. I assess her mixed literary reception in her lifetime and beyond, discussing both her critical reception and the anthologising of a large number of her poems in a wide range of anthologies. By charting the development of her poetry, I demonstrate that Smith was a rigorous artist, able to evaluate her own work.

The creative aspect of my thesis, a sequence of poems Fairoz, is a portrayal of human vulnerability involving a teenage girl susceptible to extremism: atrocities committed in religion’s name. I drew inspiration from Smith’s poetry, in theme and approach, prompted particularly by her blend of fairy tale, religion and morality in her poem ‘Angel Boley’. In writing Fairoz, I aimed to keep a dark terrain buoyant through tonal changes, wry humour and a collaging narrative.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
Depositing User:	Kitty Laine
Date Deposited:	04 Nov 2025 11:41
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2025 11:41
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92264
DOI:

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item