John Cowper Powys pursued, through ninety full years and nearly sixty books, the ultimate questions that persons of vision and spirit have always asked as they looked out on the visible world. Is ther...
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In keeping with the value he placed on the private imagination and a sense of individuality, John Cowper Powys holds a unique place in British fantasy and science-fiction literature. His published out...
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Critical Essay by R. C. Churchill
[It] is no great exaggeration to describe almost all of J. C. Powys's creative work—and some of his critical work too—under the one heading of au...
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Critical Essay by Angus Wilson
[Wolf Solent (1929) and Porius (1951) together] demonstrate the ways in which John Cowper Powys has developed and changed, and together they also show to what extent his...
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Critical Essay by V. S. Pritchett
[Some critics], like myself, have found [Powys's novels] ungainly and have thought Powysland a place of tedious sermons occasionally refreshed by thunderstorms...
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In the following review of Visions and Revisions, Shaw praises Powys's gift for literary criticism, but pans his indulgent view of great writers.
Mr. Powys is a critic of astonishing brilliancy...
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In the following excerpt, Moore extols Owen Glendower for its drama and "evocation of the past," but takes exception to its disproportionate size and style.
We all know Glendower through...
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In the following essay, Robillard gives a detailed overview of Powys's early fiction, including Wood and Stone, Rodmoor, Ducdame, Wolf Solent, and A Glastonbury Romance.
The present critical re...
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In the following review, Knight highlights humorous excerpts from the works of Powys.
We could say that there are three main myths in modern Europe: the Faust myth, the Don Juan myth and the Prometheu...
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In the following excerpt, Steiner discusses the reception of Powys's works in England and elsewhere.
There is, of course, a Powys problem. For G. Wilson Knight, perhaps the noblest of our criti...
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In the following excerpt, Lane favorably reviews Powys's major literary works in light of renewed interest in England.
Pause at the bookstall of any airport or railway station in England and yo...
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In the following review of Petrushka and the Dancer, Wilson credits Powys's companion Phyllis Playter for her inspirational support.
It would be interesting to know how these diaries would stri...
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In the following excerpt, Bayley praises Petrushka and the Dancer and The Letters of John Cowper Powys to Frances Gregg, Vol. 1 (edited by Oliver Marlow Wilkinson and Christopher Wilkinson).
It seems ...
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In the following review, Gilman discusses some of Powys's surprising choices for inclusion in his One Hundred Best Books.
As soon as we encountered Mr. John Cowper Powys's One Hundred Be...
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In the following review, Ross commends Powys for the powerful narrative and fresh imagery of Wolf Solent.
The old Quaker's observation that every one but thee and me is a little mad, and thee i...
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In the following review of The Meaning of Culture, Forman discusses Powys's "working substitute" for religious faith.
It is not for nothing that Mr. Powys in the book under review...
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In the following excerpt, Woolf pans In Defence of Sensuality for its prolixity.
One must begin a review of this book by taking one's hat off to and acknowledging Mr. Powys's obvious sin...
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In the following excerpt, Hutchison favorably reviews Enjoyment of Literature.
For upward of forty years Mr. Powys has traveled widely in the realms of gold, and his individualistic and penetrating ap...
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In the following excerpt, Ross gives a mixed review of Owen Glendower.
Many motives, presumably, may underlie the writing of a historical novel. There may be a desire to escape from one's own t...
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In the following review, Southron commends Owen Glendower for its faithfulness to early Welsh tradition.
Any one not Welsh who, like this reviewer, has lived in Wales and so become more than casually ...
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John Cowper Powys
