20th twentieth century
A01=Frances Bingham
activist
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Frances Bingham
authors writer poet
automatic-update
britain women
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BGL
Category=DNBL
catholic
communist
COP=United Kingdom
cross-dressing
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
dorset
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
gender queer
Language_English
lesbian lives relationship history
lgbtq biography biographies
PA=Available
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
quaker
softlaunch
spanish civil war
sylvia townsend warner
valentine ackland
Product details
- ISBN 9781912766406
- Publication Date: 20 May 2021
- Publisher: Handheld Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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'One November evening in 1925, two young women from London arrived at the village of Chaldon, in Dorset. They brought with them two suitcases, a gramophone, and a wooden boxful of records; the bare necessities. Both wore trousers and had Eton-cropped hair. The taller of the two, Mrs Turpin, had come to the country to recover from a recent operation to remove her hymen.'
Mrs Turpin was Valentine Ackland, on the run from her recent disastrous marriage. She was soon to meet the love of her life, Sylvia Townsend Warner, already a celebrity for her dashing debut novel Lolly Willowes. They would live in Dorset together in a passionate relationship until Valentine's death in 1969.
Valentine was a dedicated poet, deeply involved with Communism during the 1930s, and an environmentalist and peace campaigner. Recently released MI5 files show that she was blacklisted for confidential work during the Second World War, and remained under long-term surveillance. Despite her commitment to Sylvia, Valentine had many affairs with women who fell for her androgynous beauty and her masterful conduct of an amour. She also struggled with alcoholism, but the relationship with Sylvia survived all challenges.
Frances Bingham has written the definitive biography of this remarkable cross-dressing woman, poet and activist, recovering an important part of British lesbian history and creating a testament to queerness and gender identity in Valentine's transgressive life.
Frances Bingham has written the definitive biography of Valentine Ackland, a remarkable cross-dressing woman, poet and activist, recovering an important part of British lesbian history and creating a testament to queerness and gender identity in Valentine's transgressive life. Her biography was published on what would have been Valentine's 115th birthday.
Frances writes for live performance and her work often references plays, especially Shakespeare. Alongside writing she has worked in a variety of jobs, including; studio assistant in a country pottery; contemporary ceramics curator and London gallery front-of-house manager, exhibition installer, arts journalist, theatrical script editor, journal-writing workshop tutor.
With her partner Liz Mathews she runs Potters' Yard Arts in London; among other projects they collaborate on joint text/image projects, including artist's books which sometimes set Frances' words, and making artists' films (Riversoup, Paper Wings, The Moment That Holds You - shown at Arnolfini Bristol, turnthepage Norwich and Fruitmarket Gallery Edinburgh, among other venues).
