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Iris Mary Birtwistle | |
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| Born | (1918-05-29)29 May 1918 NearBlackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 22 June 2006(2006-06-22) (aged 88) |
| Occupation | Poet and gallerist |
| Alma mater | Reimann School |
Iris Mary Birtwistle (29 May 1918 – 22 June 2006; also known asLilla andIM Birtwistle) was an Englishlyric poet andgallery owner[1][2] who mentored young artists and later lost her sight.[3]
She was born nearBlackburn, Lancashire, on 29 May 1918, the second of eight children of a cotton-mill owner, James Astley Birtwistle and his wife Muriel Mary (née Marwood).[2] Her brother, Col. Michael Albert Astley Birtwistle, was aHigh Sheriff of Lancashire. Her younger sister is the poet and non-fiction writerAngela Kirby. She was a cousin of race horse trainer Monica Dickinson (née Birtwistle, the mother ofMichael Dickinson). She was educated at theConvent of the Holy Child Jesus,Mayfield, Sussex and at theReimann School of Art[4] in London. During theSecond World War, she enlisted as an officer in theWrens.[5]
Throughout her life she wrote poetry, which in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s appeared in many of the major journals and other well known publications, including:Poetry Review,The New English Weekly,The Fortnightly,The Spectator,The Tablet, andThe Times Literary Supplement. She was admired by leading writers of her day such asT. S. Eliot,Robert Graves, and DameMuriel Spark (who credited Birtwistle with her conversion to Catholicism).[6]
In the 1950s she adopted three sons and settled inWalberswick, Suffolk, where she opened the first of her unique art galleries.Jennifer Lash lived with her there for a period of time, and was introduced to her future husband,Mark Fiennes, by Birtwistle.[7] There, Birtwistle championed theRoyal AcademiciansMary Potter,Mary Newcomb, Jeffrey Camp andPhilip Sutton.[8] She nurtured young talent, and sold early work of a youngDavid Hockney.[9] In the late 1960s and early 1970s she had a small gallery in Aldeburgh.[10]
Although she continued to write poetry all her life, from the 1960s onwards being increasingly absorbed by her family and her galleries she wrote less and less. Her last poem was written in 1999 to celebrate the marriage of singerNick Cave to modelSusie Bick.[11]
In the 1970s she moved toBurnham Deepdale,Norfolk where she opened the last of her successful, if eccentric, galleries,Deepdale Exhibitions. This she ran until her death despite increasing loss of sight from hereditaryglaucoma, which rendered her blind for the last 15 years of her life.[citation needed]
Although a collection of her work had been completed before her death,When Leaf and Note are Gone was finally published posthumously by Buff Press in 2008, edited by poets Anne Stewart andAngela Kirby (Birtwistle’s youngest sister). The introduction was by writer and poetDerek Stanford.[citation needed]
Birtwistle remained a devout Roman Catholic all her life.[12][13] and died on 20 June 2006, aged 86.
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