Born Florence Margaret Smith in Hull, England, Stevie Smith was a secretary at 'Newnes Publishing Company' in London from 1923 to 1953, and occasionally worked as a writer and broadcaster for the BBC. Though she began publishing verse, which she often illustrated herself, in the 1930s, Smith did not reach a wide audience until 1962, with the publication of 'Selected Poems' and her appearance in the Penguin Modern Poets Series.smith is noted for her eccentricity and mischievous humor, often involving an acerbic twist on nursery rhymes, common songs, or hymns. Force-fed with what she considered lifeless language in the New English Bible, she often aimed satirical barbs at religion.

Smith won the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry in 1969, two years before her death. She published three novels in addition to her eight volumes of poetry.

Though Stevie Smith is not as widely known today as could be expected, her importance is certain. She has been praised by countless critics, and is popular among many readers. Her voice is witty and humorous, and her works seem lighthearted. On a closer look, however, it can be discovered that the poems often have a meaning deeper and darker than was expected. She wrote about death and loss of innocence, love and religion, all of which were addressed in hidden ways throughout her poems.

Stevie Smith was able to take serious issues and cloak them in humor, getting her point across in an inventive and clever way. She was able to be funny, serious, and prophetic all at once, a practice not many poets exercise.see also: * ready for drowning [phrases]