Frank Stuart Flint, later mainly known by his nom de plume F.S. Flint, was born in Islington, London, England in December of 1885. Flint grew up in a lower class family that consistently struggled with poverty. He left school when he was thirteen years old and never returned to continue any sort of formal education. He was first inspired to pursue a career in writing when he read the work of John Keats at seventeen.
Early Career
In 1904, he began his career as a typist with the Civil Service. He also enrolled in night school classes in an attempt to create a better life for himself. Flint was a distinguished member of the service, and would work for the British government for his entire life. In 1908 he began his writing career by publishing a book on French poets and their history. This work, along with a number of others published throughout his career, would solidify his reputation as one of Britain’s leading authorities on French poetry.
Flint’s first collection, a volume of original love lyrics, was published in 1909 and titled, In the Net of the Stars. It was around this same time that he began his professional association with Ezra Pound and T.E. Hulme. These three poets, as well as others such as H.D., were known as the founders and true backbone of the Imagist movement. This poetic movement was focused on simple expression and poignant visual images. Flint’s study of French poetry, as well as his association with Imagist poets, would deeply influence his own poetry.
Starting in 1919 Flint worked at the Ministry of Labour. He would continue here until 1951.
Later Life
While writing his own works and studying French poetry, Flint also completed a number of translations of French and German poetry as well as work by classical authors. In addition to these two outlets, he is also noted for articles such as The Plain Man and Economic as well as his literary criticism which was published in The Egoist and a few other literary publications. His third and final collection, Otherworld was published in 1920.
At this point in his life, Flint stopped publishing poetry, but continued his contributions to magazines. He finally stopped publishing altogether in the early 1930s. Some have speculated that the end of his writing career came about after the death of his wife. F.S. Flint died on February 28, 1960, in Berkshire, England.
