The Sitwells (Edith Sitwell, Osbert Sitwell, Sacheverell Sitwell), from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, were three siblings who formed an identifiable literary and artistic clique around themselves in London in the period roughly 1916 to 1930s.Unconventional, aristocratic, and physically imposing, they were bold, talented, and provocative. This book celebrates their lives and their artistic crusade, which brought them into contact and conflict with many of the leading figures of the arts in the early part of this century. Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and Evelyn Waugh were among their friends.
Sitwell family, British family of writers. Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) attracted attention when she joined her brothers in a revolt against Georgian poetry. Her early work, which emphasizes the value of sound, includes Clowns’ Houses (1918) and Façade (1923), set to music by William Walton. Beginning with Gold Coast Customs (1929), her style became less artificial and experimental, and during World War II she emerged as a poet of some emotional depth. Her later poetry is informed by religious symbolism, as in Gardeners and Astronomers (1953) and The Outcasts (1962). She was famous for her formidable personality, Elizabethan dress, and eccentric opinions.
