Stephens, James (1882–1950)

Irish poet and novelist. Born in Dublin, where he was sent to an orphanage as a child, he later moved to London as a full-time writer in 1924. His work first came to wide attention through the success of his prose fantasy The Crock of Gold (1912). His later publications include Songs from the Clay (1914), The Demi-Gods (1914), and Reincarnations (1917). Many of his works drew on his enormous knowledge of Irish history, myth, and legend.

Stephens's first publication was a volume of poems, Insurrections (1909), followed by his first novel, The Charwoman's Daughter (1912), which described poverty in the Dublin slums. His Collected Poems were first published in 1926, and revised in 1954.