Hugh Sykes Davies

Hugh Sykes Davies ( * 1909 in Yorkshire, † 1984) was a British poet and writer. He belonged to the small group of British Surrealists.

Life and work

Davies was born the son of a Methodist pastor and his wife in Yorkshire. He attended Kingswood School in Bath and then studied at Cambridge, where he edited a student magazine called Experiment with William Empson. in the 1930s, he spent several years in Paris. He was one of the organizers of the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936 in London. In 1940 he was a candidate of the Communist Party for election to the House of Commons, but she did not take place since the Second World War had broken out.

His friends included, for example, TS Eliot, IA Richards, Anthony Blunt, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Salvador Dalí.

Davies was a lecturer and Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge. His literary estate is preserved in the St Johns librairy.

Publications (selection)

• Hugh Sykes Davies: Wordsworth and the Worth of Words. Cambridge University Press, 4th edition 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-12914-5 (online)
• Hugh Sykes Davies / George Watson: The English Mind: Studies in the English Moralists. Presented to Basil Willey. First edition 1964. Cambridge University Press 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-13707-2