Ronald Firbank (1886-1926) was a modernist English writer – an author of 8 slim novels and a play. Shunned by critics at the time, his reputation still suffers. Among those who know his work ‘he is celebrated as a master of high camp, but he was also a radical technician and radical homosexualiser of the novel.’ (A. Hollinghurst) Extraordinarily shy yet extravagant, he never sought fame, remaining an outsider in English society. He developed his writing and aesthetic sensibility in order to dissect high society’s public face, constantly reworking themes of sexuality, religion and social anxiety.
Here you can read two essays about Firbank written by Alan Hollinghurst: “I Often Laugh When I’m Alone” (2001) and “The Shy, Steely Ronald Firbank” (2006)
The Flower Beneath The Foot 