Val Warner
Val Warner, also known as Valerie Margaret Warner and Val, was an English poet and actress. She was best known for her poetry, editorial work on Charlotte Mew, and efforts that helped renew wider interest in Mew's writing. Warner died in Hackney, London, in 2020.
Poetry, translation and Charlotte Mew
Warner published several poetry collections, including These Yellow Photos in 1971, Under the Penthouse in 1973, Before Lunch in 1986, and Tooting Idyll in 1998. She also translated Tristan Corbière's The Centenary Corbière, first published in 1975.
Her editorial work played an important role in renewing interest in poet Charlotte Mew. Warner edited Charlotte Mew: Collected Poems and Prose in 1981, followed by Collected Poems and Selected Prose of Charlotte Mew in 2003. Her scholarship and advocacy helped increase the wider visibility of Mew's work.
Writing posts and literary recognition
Warner initially worked as a school librarian and freelance copy-editor. She later served as a Creative Writing Fellow at Swansea University and as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Dundee.
She received the Eric Gregory Award in 1975 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1998. She had studied modern history at Somerville College, Oxford.
Final years and death
Warner became increasingly reclusive during the last years of her life. After selling a house in Harrow that she had inherited from her parents, she moved to a late-Victorian terraced house in Hackney, where she lived for the remainder of her life.
Police entered the house on October 10, 2020, after a concerned friend contacted them because Warner had stopped communicating. She had died alone at the age of 74. An autopsy was conducted in November 2020, but the coroner recorded no ascertainable cause of death.
Quick facts
- Warner received the Eric Gregory Award in 1975.
- Warner's 1981 edition of Charlotte Mew's collected poems and prose helped renew wider interest in Mew's work.
- Warner was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1998.
- Warner served as a Creative Writing Fellow at Swansea University.
- Warner was Writer-in-Residence at the University of Dundee.
- Warner translated Tristan Corbière's The Centenary Corbière, first published in 1975.
- Warner edited a second Charlotte Mew volume, Collected Poems and Selected Prose of Charlotte Mew, in 2003.
- Warner's body was discovered after police forced entry into her Hackney home on October 10, 2020.
- The coroner recorded no ascertainable cause of Warner's death after an autopsy in November 2020.
More poets
Suggest an edit to this profile
Spotted something wrong or missing? Tell us what should change and, if you can, where you saw it.