About Edwin Muir
Edwin Muir (May 15, 1887 in Deerness, Orkney – January 3, 1959 in Swaffham Prior) was a Scottish poet, novelist, critic and translator. In 1901 Muir's father lost his farm in the Orkney Islands and the family moved to Glasgow. In 1919 he married Willa Anderson and the two moved to London. Together they later translated works by Franz Kafka and other German writers into English. During the 1920s, Edwin Muir acquired a fairly significant reputation as a critic, notably thanks to Latitudes (1924) and The Structure of the Novel (1928). He decided, at the same time, to focus on poetry. Between 1925 and 1956, Edwin Muir published seven volumes of poetry which were recovered after his death and published in 1991 as The Complete Poems of Edwin Muir. From 1927 to 1932 he published three novels, and in 1935 he wrote the controversial Scott and Scotland, published in 1936. His works are strongly inspired by the events of his life and he himself is influenced by many writers, notably Nietzsche. His particular and philosophical style as well as his way of writing poetry earned him recognition towards the end of his life. For most of his career, Edwin Muir was not well known because he did not identify with the mainstream of modern poetry and suffered criticism throughout his career. He also did not easily enter the literary world because he did not associate with other writers of his time. Instead, his reputation as a critic and his popularity gradually grew as his poetic skills developed, resulting in numerous awards that paid tribute to his contribution to British literature.Browse all poems and texts published on Edwin Muir
