Allen Upward

Born in Worcester on September 20, 1863, Allen Upward was a British poet, lawyer, politician, and teacher. He studied law in Dublin and, while there, supported Irish Home Rule in his writing. In the 1890s he lived in Cardiff, where he worked as a lawyer and journalist, defended labour leaders, and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament.

Upward wrote poetry, novels, translations, and memoir. His books include Songs in Ziklag, Scented Leaves from a Chinese Jar, a translation of the Sayings of Confucius, and novels such as The Prince of Balkistan and The Discovery of the Dead. He also spent time in Nigeria working for the British government, and his wide travels and strong political interests fed into both his fiction and his non-fiction.

He is now remembered especially for his connection to early modernism: Ezra Pound included his work in Des Imagistes in 1914, helping secure him a small but lasting place in literary history. Upward died in Wimborne on November 12, 1926.