Lord Dunsany (Lord Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany) Biography

Irish dramatist and short-story writer, of Anglo-Irish parentage, born in London, educated at Eton and Sandhurst. He was a friend of Yeats, Gogarty, and Lady Gregory and others associated with the Irish Revival. His first play, The Glittering Gate (performed 1909), was published in Five Plays (1914) together with other fantasies showing the influence of Maurice Maeterlinck; other plays appeared in Plays of Gods and Men (1917), Plays of Near and Far (1922), and Seven Modern Comedies (1928). His most successful play was If (1921), a dramatized oriental tale. Many of his collections of mythological tales were illustrated with strange fin de siècle drawings by S. H. Sime, including The Gods of Pegana (1905), Time and the Gods (1906), and Tales of Wonder (1916). Set in a universe with its own mythology, these stories influenced popular American writers of fantasy such as H. P. Lovecraft and F. Leiber. His more realistic stories featuring Mr Jorkens and his remarkable adventures began with The Travel Tales of Mr Joseph Jorkens (1931) and continued in other volumes. He also wrote essays, verse, autobiographical works, and several novels including The King of Elfland's Daughter (1922), The Blessing of Pan (1927), and The Last Revolution (1951), a science fiction work.