V. (Victoria) Sackville-West

Born Victoria Mary Sackville-West at Knole in Kent in 1892, she grew up in one of England’s great historic houses, an experience that deeply shaped her imagination and her writing. Although she published under the name Vita Sackville-West, her work ranged widely: novels, long poems, biographies, travel writing, and newspaper pieces.

She married diplomat and writer Harold Nicolson in 1913, and together they created the celebrated gardens at Sissinghurst Castle. Alongside her literary career, she became admired for her knowledge of plants and garden design, and her love of landscape runs through much of her work.

Her best-known books include The Edwardians, All Passion Spent, and the poem The Land, which won the Hawthornden Prize. She also remains a fascinating figure in literary history because of her friendship and love affair with Virginia Woolf, who drew on her in Orlando. Sackville-West died in 1962, but her books and gardens still keep her voice very much alive.