Robert Lynd

Robert Wilson Lynd (1879–1949) was an Irish essayist and literary critic. Born in Belfast to a Presbyterian family and educated at Queen's College there, he moved to London and became literary editor of the Daily News, later the News Chronicle, and for many years wrote a weekly essay for the New Statesman under the pen name Y. Y. A supporter of Irish nationalism, he wrote on Irish politics as well as on books. His many collections of light essays, such as The Pleasures of Ignorance, and his criticism, such as Old and New Masters, were widely read. He was married to the poet Sylvia Lynd.