Viola Gerard Garvin (1 January 1898 – January 1969) was an English poet and literary editor at ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''.

Life and career

Viola Garvin was born at Benwell on 1 January 1898, the eldest daughter of J. L. Garvin, later the long-time editor of ''The Observer''; her older brother Gerard was killed in the First World War. She was named for Francis Thompson's "The Making of Viola" and for Viola Meynell, the subject of the poem. She was educated at South Hampstead High School and at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, Constance Savery, "Work Diary. 2nd-4th February 1969". Manuscript collection, Knight Library,

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Savery remembered Garvin's "dark haunting eyes" and recalled that "she shone like a planet at Somerville. No glitter, just 'the soft journey that a planet goes'". and then became assistant literary editor at ''The Observer'' in 1926; she later became literary editor, but was let go when her father's contract was not renewed in 1942. She also worked as a translator from the French: for example in 1930 of Jacques Chardonne's ''Eva'' and after leaving ''The Observer'', of

Romain Gary Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew () and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar, was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt twice (once under a ps ...

's ''Forest of Anger'' (1944), Rémy's ''The Messenger'' (1954) and Constantin de Grunwald's ''Peter the Great'' (1956). In the 1920s and 1930s, she repeatedly went into debt. In the early 1930s she was in a relationship with Humbert Wolfe, a poet who also reviewed for ''The Observer'', but he was married. She died in January 1969, aged 71.

Publications

Garvin published one volume of poetry, ''Dedication'' (1928), and many translations from the French, from ''The Life of Solomon'' (1929) by Edmond Fleg, to ''The Schooner'' (1959) by Freddy Drilhon. She assisted in the preparation for Alfred M. Gollin's ''The Observer and J.L. Garvin, 1908-1914: A Study in Great Editorship'' (1960).Douglas A. Anderson, Lesser-Known Writers

Legacy

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...

paraphrased a part from Viola Garvin's poem ''The House of Cæsar'' for his suicide note.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garvin, Viola 1898 births 1969 deaths English women poets English journalists The Observer people People educated at South Hampstead High School Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers English women non-fiction writers 20th-century English journalists English women journalists