author
William Sharp
1855–1905
A Scottish writer of poems, criticism, and fiction, he is remembered above all for the remarkable double literary life he led. Alongside work published under his own name, he secretly created the acclaimed Celtic voice of "Fiona Macleod."
9 Audiobooks
Pharais; and, The Mountain Lovers
by William Sharp
Life of Robert Browning
by William Sharp
Where the forest murmurs : Nature essays
by William Sharp
Spiritual Tales Re-issue of the Shorter Stories of Fiona Macleod; Rearranged, with Additional Tales
by William Sharp
The Washer of the Ford: Legendary moralities and barbaric tales
by William Sharp
Green Fire: A Romance
by William Sharp
Life of Robert Browning
by William Sharp
About the author
Born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1855, William Sharp built a varied career as a poet, novelist, biographer, editor, and critic. He wrote literary studies of figures including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Robert Browning, and he was active in the rich literary culture of late Victorian Britain.
What makes Sharp especially fascinating is that, beginning in the 1890s, he also published as Fiona Macleod, a pseudonym he kept largely secret during his lifetime. Under that name he wrote mystical, Celtic-inspired stories and essays that gained serious attention, creating one of the most unusual authorial identities of his era.
That hidden second career has become central to his legacy. Today he is often read both as an accomplished Scottish man of letters and as the creator of Fiona Macleod, whose work helped shape the mood of the Celtic revival before Sharp's death in 1905.