Anna Kavan
Encyclopedia
Anna Kavan was a British novelist, short story writer and painter.
of cold, wealthy parents, she grew up emotionally rootless, leading to lifelong depression and bouts of mental illness. She grew up in Europe and the United States, and lived in Burma for a time after her first marriage. She married and divorced twice. Her one son, Bryan, died in World War II
. Her daughter, Margaret, born during Kavan's marriage to Stuart Edmonds, died soon after childbirth. The couple adopted a daughter whom they named Susanna.
Her initial six works were published under the name of Helen Ferguson, her first married name. She eventually named herself after a character in her own novel Let Me Alone. Asylum Piece and all subsequent works were authored as Anna Kavan. Kavan was addicted to heroin for most of her adult life, a dependency which was generally undetected by her associates, and for which she made no apologies. She is popularly supposed to have died of a heroin overdose. In fact she died of heart failure, though she had attempted suicide several times during her life.
The first six of her novels gave little indication of the experimental and disturbing nature of her later work. Asylum Piece, a collection of short stories which explored the inner mindscape of the psychological explorer, heralded the new style and content of Kavan's writing. They were published after she was institutionalised for a heroin-related breakdown and suicide attempt. After her release, Kavan changed her name legally and set about a new career as an avant-garde writer in the mode of Franz Kafka
. Her development of "nocturnal language" involved the lexicon of dreams and addiction, mental instability and alienation. She has been compared to Djuna Barnes
, Virginia Woolf
and Anaïs Nin
, as well as Kafka. (Nin was an admirer and unsuccessfully pursued a correspondence with Kavan.) On one occasion Kavan collaborated with her analyst and close friend, Karl Theodor Bluth, in writing "The Horse's Tale" (1949).
An inveterate traveller, Kavan spent twenty-two months of World War II
in New Zealand, and it was that country's proximity to the inhospitable frozen landscape of Antarctica that inspired the writing of Ice. This post-apocalyptic novel brought critical acclaim, earning Kavan the Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction Book of the Year award in 1967, the year before Kavan's death. She died at her home in Kensington on 5 December 1968. Many of her works were published posthumously, some edited by her friend, Rhys Davies
. London-based Peter Owen Publishers have been long-serving advocates of Kavan's work and continue to keep her work in print.
Many of her papers, artwork and ephemera are in the University of Tulsa
's McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives.
, the primary creative force behind the experimental music
/neofolk
music group Current 93
, named the group's album Sleep Has His House
after the Anna Kavan book of the same title.
San Francisco post-rock band Carta entitled their song "Kavan" on their album "The Glass Bottom Boat" after Anna Kavan. The song was subsequently released as a remix by The Declining Winter
on their album Haunt The Upper Hallways
.
Biography
Anna Kavan was born in France to British parents. The only childOnly child
An only child is a person with no siblings, either biological or adopted. In a family with multiple offspring, first-borns, may be briefly considered only children and have a similar early family environment, but the term only child is generally applied only to those individuals who never have...
of cold, wealthy parents, she grew up emotionally rootless, leading to lifelong depression and bouts of mental illness. She grew up in Europe and the United States, and lived in Burma for a time after her first marriage. She married and divorced twice. Her one son, Bryan, died in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Her daughter, Margaret, born during Kavan's marriage to Stuart Edmonds, died soon after childbirth. The couple adopted a daughter whom they named Susanna.
Her initial six works were published under the name of Helen Ferguson, her first married name. She eventually named herself after a character in her own novel Let Me Alone. Asylum Piece and all subsequent works were authored as Anna Kavan. Kavan was addicted to heroin for most of her adult life, a dependency which was generally undetected by her associates, and for which she made no apologies. She is popularly supposed to have died of a heroin overdose. In fact she died of heart failure, though she had attempted suicide several times during her life.
The first six of her novels gave little indication of the experimental and disturbing nature of her later work. Asylum Piece, a collection of short stories which explored the inner mindscape of the psychological explorer, heralded the new style and content of Kavan's writing. They were published after she was institutionalised for a heroin-related breakdown and suicide attempt. After her release, Kavan changed her name legally and set about a new career as an avant-garde writer in the mode of Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
. Her development of "nocturnal language" involved the lexicon of dreams and addiction, mental instability and alienation. She has been compared to Djuna Barnes
Djuna Barnes
Djuna Barnes was an American writer who played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and '30s bohemian Paris after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Village of the teens...
, Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
and Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...
, as well as Kafka. (Nin was an admirer and unsuccessfully pursued a correspondence with Kavan.) On one occasion Kavan collaborated with her analyst and close friend, Karl Theodor Bluth, in writing "The Horse's Tale" (1949).
An inveterate traveller, Kavan spent twenty-two months of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in New Zealand, and it was that country's proximity to the inhospitable frozen landscape of Antarctica that inspired the writing of Ice. This post-apocalyptic novel brought critical acclaim, earning Kavan the Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
Science Fiction Book of the Year award in 1967, the year before Kavan's death. She died at her home in Kensington on 5 December 1968. Many of her works were published posthumously, some edited by her friend, Rhys Davies
Rhys Davies
Rhys Davies was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language....
. London-based Peter Owen Publishers have been long-serving advocates of Kavan's work and continue to keep her work in print.
Many of her papers, artwork and ephemera are in the University of Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
's McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives.
Influence
David TibetDavid Tibet
David Tibet is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He had earlier collaborated with Psychic TV and 23 Skidoo...
, the primary creative force behind the experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
/neofolk
Neofolk
Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
music group Current 93
Current 93
Current 93 is an eclectic British experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet .-Background:Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton has appeared on...
, named the group's album Sleep Has His House
Sleep Has His House
Sleep Has His House is an album released in 2000 by English apocalyptic folk group Current 93. The album was written and recorded as a reaction to the death of David Tibet's father and prominently features harmonium. The lyrics were mostly written by David Tibet and the music composed by Michael...
after the Anna Kavan book of the same title.
San Francisco post-rock band Carta entitled their song "Kavan" on their album "The Glass Bottom Boat" after Anna Kavan. The song was subsequently released as a remix by The Declining Winter
The Declining Winter
The Declining Winter are a British band based in Leeds, led by Richard Adams, the co-founder of the Domino Records group, Hood. The band features members of Fieldhead, Brave Timbers, Quack Quack and Gareth S. Brown....
on their album Haunt The Upper Hallways
Haunt the Upper Hallways
Haunt the Upper Hallways is a 2009 album by The Declining Winter. It was produced in Leeds and released on Home Assembly Music.-Track listing:#"Haunt the Upper Hallways"#"My Name in Ruins"#"Hey EFD"#"Red Brick Houses"#"Where the Severn Rivers Tread"...
.
As Helen Ferguson
- A Charmed Circle (1929)
- Let Me Alone (1930)
- The Dark Sisters (1930)
- A Stranger Still (1935)
- Goose Cross (1936)
- Rich Get Rich (1937)
As Anna Kavan
- Asylum Piece (1940)
- Change The Name (1941)
- I Am Lazarus (1945)
- Sleep Has His House (a.k.a. The House of Sleep) (1948)
- The Horse's Tale (with K. T. Bluth) (1949)
- A Scarcity of Love (1956)
- Eagle's Nest (1957)
- A Bright Green Field and Other Stories (1958)
- Who Are You? (1963)
- Ice (1967)
- Julia and the Bazooka (1970)
- My Soul in China (1975)
- My Madness: Selected Writings (1990)
- Mercury (1994)
- The Parson (1995)
- Guilty (2007)
Anthologized work by Anna Kavan
- "Department of Slight Confusion." In Book: A Miscellany. No. 3, edited by Leo Bensemann & Denis Glover. Christchurch: Caxton Press, 1941.
- "Ice Storm." In New Zealand New Writing, edited by Ian Gordon. Wellington: Progressive Publishing Society, 1942.
- "I Am Lazarus." Horizon VII, no. 41, 1943, 353–61.
- "New Zealand: An Answer to an Inquiry." Horizon VIII, no. 45, 1943, 153–61.
- "The Big Bang." In Modern Short Stories, edited by Denys Val Baker. London: Staples & Staples, 1943.
- "Face of My People." Horizon IX, no. 53, 1944, 323–35.
- "Face of My People." In Little Reviews Anthology 1945, edited by Denys Val Baker. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1945.
- "I Am Lazarus." In Stories of the Forties Vol. 1, edited by Reginald Moore & Woodrow Wyatt. London: Nicholson & Watson, 1945.
- "Two New Zealand Pieces." In Choice, edited by William Sansom. London: Progressive Publishing, 1946.
- "Brave New Worlds." In Horizon, edited by Cyril Connolly. London, 1946.
- "The Professor." In Horizon, edited by Cyril Connolly. London, 1946.
- "Face of My People." In Modern British Writing, edited by Denys Val Baker. New York: Vanguard Press, 1947.
- "I Am Lazarus." In The World Within: Fiction Illuminating Neuroses of Our Time, edited by Mary Louise W. Aswell. New York: McGraw-Hill Books, 1947.
- "The Red Dogs." In Penguin New Writing, Vol. 37, edited by John Lehmann. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1949.
- "The Red Dogs." In Pleasures of New Writing: An Anthology of Poems, Stories, and Other Prose Pieces from the Pages of New Writing, edited by John Lehmann. London: John Lehmann, 1952.
- "Happy Name." In London Magazine, edited by Alan Ross. London, 1954.
- "Palace of Sleep." In Stories for the Dead of Night, edited by Don Congdon. New York: Dell Books, 1957
- "A Bright Green Field." In Springtime Two: An Anthology of Current Trends, edited by Peter Owen & Wendy Owen. London: Peter Owen Ltd., 1958.
- "High in the Mountains." In London Magazine, edited by Alan Ross. London, 1958.
- "Five More Days to Countdown." In Encounter XXXI, no. 1, 1968, 45–49.
- "Julia and the Bazooka." In Encounter XXXII, no. 2, 1969, 16–19.
- "World of Heroes." In Encounter XXXIII, no. 4, 1969, 9–13.
- "The Mercedes." In London Magazine 1970, 17–21.
- "Edge of Panic." In Vogue, 1 October 1971, 75–83.
- "Sleep Has His House" excerpts. In The Tiger Garden: A Book of Writers’ Dreams. Foreword by Anthony Stevens. London: Serpent’s Tail, 1996
- "The Zebra Struck" In The Vintage Book of Amnesia, edited by Jonathan Lethem. New York: Vintage Books, 2000
External links
- Anna Kavan Website – Created by Jan HanfordJan HanfordJan Hanford is a composer/musician who plays piano, harpsichord and synthesizers. Her electronica has been released under the name Human Response....
- Anna Kavan Society
- Full Bibliography
- Times Literary Supplement "The Thwarted Fiction of Anna Kavan"
- Anna Kavan's "real" New Zealand – Jennifer Sturm
- Anna Kavan by Jennifer Sturm Dr Jennifer Sturm and Debbie Knowles discuss the life and work of Anna Kavan for the Cultural Icons project. Audio and video.
- University of Tulsa McFarlin Library's inventory of the Anna Kavan collection housed in their special collections department
- Review and rights for Anna Kavan's "Ice"
- 'Anna Kavan's New Zealand' edited by Jennifer Sturm