James Wilkinson (2) (1941–)

This book is quite slim, but there is a lot of tiny print on each page, as well as many photographs, some small, but also some bigger ones. The first chapter explains the origins of Poet's Corner with the burial of Geoffrey Chaucer and, almost 200 years later, that of Edmund Spenser, which started a tradition. It also informs the reader about the decision making process: The Dean decides who will be buried or memorialized in Poet's Corner, although these days literary experts will be consulted before a decision is made.
After this introduction, the chapters chronologically follow the most important literary epochs until today and list which writers are included in the corner. There is a short paragraph on each person with biographical notes and their most important works, and it is explained when they were memorialized and in what way.
I read about one or two chapters a day because otherwise the concise information would have been too much. It was enjoyable to learn about many of these writers - some that I know well, others that I only know by name, and others that I have never heard of. Unfortunately, the biographical notes concentrate a lot on where the writers were educated, while I would have wished for more information about their works and why these were (or still are) relevant.
While there are more than a hundred graves or memorials to writers in Poet's Corner, there are only eight female writers commemorated in all of Westminster Abbey (and only six in Poet's Corner) - so while you might expect these to take place of pride in the book, most of them, with the exception of Jane Austen, only get a short paragraph. Elizabeth Gaskell only receives two short sentences, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning is only mentioned as a writer and wife to her husband, but her works are not referred to at all. I must say that this way of dealing with the female writers really annoyed me, although apart from that it was an interesting read.… (meer)