Clifford Dyment manuscripts

Literary manuscripts and other papers, 1930-[1969], of Clifford Dyment, including autograph and amended typescript copies of poems, 1930-[1969]; fragments of various prose works, [1948]-[1969]; correspondence, 1936-1953; drafts of his play 'Mr Everyman', [?1953]; and scripts, annotated by Dyment, for radio and stage adaptations of Turgenev's 'Torrents of Spring', [?1950s].

Clifford Henry Dyment (1914-1971), poet and writer, was born 20 January 1914 in Alfreton, Derbyshire, the son of William Clifford Dyment (1888-1918) and his wife Bessie (née Riding, 1888-1982), both of South Wales. Dyment spent his early childhood in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, but following the death of his father, in action in France on 22 May 1918, he moved with his mother and sister to Nottingham. He attended Loughborough Grammar School, Leicestershire, and for some time ran a cycle shop. Following the publication of his first volume of poetry, First Day (London, 1935) he moved to London. There followed Straight or Curly (London, 1937), The Axe in the Wood (London, 1944), Poems 1935-1948 (London, 1949), Experiences and Places: New Poems (London, 1955) and (with Marcella Dyment) Fur, Feather, and Fin (London, 1968), together with Selected Poems (London, [1945]) and Collected Poems (London, 1970), this last volume including a section of previously unpublished 'dream poems'. Other works included the biography C. Day Lewis (London, 1955) and The Railway Game: An Early Autobiography (London, 1962). Dyment also worked as a journalist and critic, wrote and directed documentaries for the Ministry of Information and other bodies during the Second World War, and worked for BBC radio and television as a broadcaster and writer of commentaries. In 1947 he married Marcella Salzer (d. 1968). Dyment died in London, 5 June 1971.

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 23955E, 24072D, 24079-86.

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library.

NLW MS 23955E: C. R. Johnson Rare Book Collections; London; Purchase; March 2007; 004457406.
NLW MS 24072D: Richard M. Ford; London; Purchase; September 2015; 6921927.
NLW MSS 24079-24086: Richard M. Ford; London; Purchase (with NLW ex 2927); February 2016; 99633430102419.

Clifford Henry Dyment (1914-1971), poet and writer, was born 20 January 1914 in Alfreton, Derbyshire, the son of William Clifford Dyment (1888-1918) and his wife Bessie (née Riding, 1888-1982), both of South Wales. Dyment spent his early childhood in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, but following the death of his father, in action in France on 22 May 1918, he moved with his mother and sister to Nottingham. He attended Loughborough Grammar School, Leicestershire, and for some time ran a cycle shop. Following the publication of his first volume of poetry, First Day (London, 1935) he moved to London. There followed Straight or Curly (London, 1937), The Axe in the Wood (London, 1944), Poems 1935-1948 (London, 1949), Experiences and Places: New Poems (London, 1955) and (with Marcella Dyment) Fur, Feather, and Fin (London, 1968), together with Selected Poems (London, [1945]) and Collected Poems (London, 1970), this last volume including a section of previously unpublished 'dream poems'. Other works included the biography C. Day Lewis (London, 1955) and The Railway Game: An Early Autobiography (London, 1962). Dyment also worked as a journalist and critic, wrote and directed documentaries for the Ministry of Information and other bodies during the Second World War, and worked for BBC radio and television as a broadcaster and writer of commentaries. In 1947 he married Marcella Salzer (d. 1968). Dyment died in London, 5 June 1971.

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: 'Dyment, Clifford Henry', in Who Was Who (Oxford: O.U.P., 2014), online edn. April 2014 <http://www.ukwhoswho.com> [accessed 7 March 2016]; The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English, ed. by Ian Hamilton (Oxford: O.U.P., 1994); Robert Greacen, 'Mr Clifford Dyment: Poet and author', The Times, 8 June 1971, Obituaries, p. 14.

Title based on contents of fonds.

March 2016.

Description compiled by Rhys M. Jones.

Usual copyright laws apply.

NLW MSS 24079-86 apparently at one time in the possession of Dyment's mother Bessie Dyment (d. 1982); they may have been inherited by Dyment's sister, Irene Dyment, who died in April 2011.

Accruals are not expected.

See also NLW ex 2927, which contains annotated printed works and miscellaneous personal papers. For further papers of Clifford Dyment, 1939-1970, see Philadelphia (PA), Temple University, Special Collections Research Center, (SPC) MSS LT 119.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales