Isle of Wight Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (; also referred to informally as The Island or abbreviated to IoW) is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is in the English Channel, between 2 and 5 miles off the coast of Hampshire, separated by the Solent. The island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria, who built her much-loved summer
Culture of the Isle of Wight Maitland", are set on the island. The isle has been the setting for several novels, including Julian Barnes's utopian novel "England, England", and detective thrillers such as "The Fallen" by Robert Rennick. It also features in John Wyndham's novel "The Day of the Triffids" and Simon Clark's sequel "The Night of the Triffids". The Iranian-born poet Mimi Khalvati was educated at Upper Chine School in Shanklin; many of her poems are about the island, especially in the book "The Chine". Sandown-based author Edward Upward sets part of his book "In the Thirties" on the Isle of Wight. The 1973 film