May Kendall

May Kendall (born Emma Goldworth Kendall; 1861 – 1943) was an English poet, novelist, and satirist. She is best known as the co-author of the novel That Very Mab and the poetry collections Dreams to Sell and Songs from Dreamland. She studied at Somerville College, Oxford.

Possibly her most anthologized poem, "Lay of the Trilobite," is a satire of the popular English response to Darwin's evolutionary theory. "Lay of the Trilobite" was originally published in Punch Magazine, to which Kendall contributed for ten years.[1] Much of her literary output focuses on evolution and other scientific discoveries, the New Woman, and satirical portraits of British society and its hypocrisy.[2] In 1895 Kendall partially gave up professional writing in order to more fully devote her life to social reform. She worked predominantly with the Rowntree Family in York.[3][4]

Kendall died in poverty at a public assistance institution in York. The death certificate stated that she was suffering from dementia. Her unmarked grave is in York Cemetery.[5]

Works
  • (with Andrew Lang) That Very Mab (1885)[6]
  • Dreams to Sell (1887)
  • Songs from Dreamland (1894)
  • Turkish Bonds (1895)
  • (with Benjamin Rowntree) How the Labourer Lives: A Study of the Rural Labour Problem (1913)
gollark: Online classes for physical skills based around other people are probably a *bit* useful if done right, but not very.
gollark: I'm not entirely sure what you're saying there, but yes, I'm *intellectually* aware exercise is good and all, I just dislike actually doing any.
gollark: I know *intellectually* that exercise is important and very good and stuff, personally, but seemingly that's not enough to make me actually do anything.
gollark: Also making it as convenient/friction-free as possible.
gollark: Probably both work to some extent for different people.

References
  1. Katy Birch, "May Kendall (writer) (1861-1943)", Ladies Who Punch, https://ladieswhopunchbiogs.wordpress.com/may-kendall/
  2. Brown, Susan. "May Kendall". Orlando Project. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  3. Maltz, Diana. "Sympathy, Humor, and the Abject Poor in the Word of May Kendall." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920. 50. 3 (2007), 313-332.
  4. "Project MUSE - English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 - Sympathy, Humor, and the Abject Poor in the Work of May Kendall". muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  5. Birch, Catherine. "'Evolutionary Feminism in Late-Victorian Women's Poetry: Mathilde Blind, Constance Naden and May Kendall' (Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011) pp. 64-5" (PDF). Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  6. "'That Very Mab' by May Kendall and Andrew Lang - Project Gutenberg". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 8 October 2008.


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