Bryher
Encyclopedia
Bryher was the pen name of the novelist, poet, memoirist, and magazine editor Annie Winifred Ellerman. She was born in September 1894 in Margate
. Her father was the shipowner and financier John Ellerman
, who at the time of his death in 1933, was the richest Englishman who had ever lived. He lived with her mother Hannah Glover, but did not marry her until 1908.
off the southwestern coast of Great Britain
and acquired her future pseudonym
from her favourite island, Bryher
.
During the 1920s, Bryher was an unconventional figure in Paris
. Among her circle of friends were Ernest Hemingway
, James Joyce
, Gertrude Stein
, Sylvia Beach
and Berenice Abbott
. Her wealth enabled her to give financial support to struggling writers, including Joyce and Edith Sitwell
. She also helped with finance for Sylvia Beach's bookshop Shakespeare and Company
and certain publishing ventures, and started a film company Pool Group
. She also helped provide funds to purchase a flat in Paris for the destitute Dada artist and writer Baron
ess Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
.
relationship with poet Hilda Doolittle (better known by her initials, H.D.). The relationship was an open
one, with both taking other partners. In 1921 she entered into a marriage of convenience
with the American author Robert McAlmon
, whom she divorced in 1927. http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biob6/bryh1.html
That same year she married Kenneth Macpherson
, a writer who shared her interest in film and who was at the same time H.D.'s lover. In Burier, Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva, the couple built a Bauhaus-style style structure that doubled as a home and film studio, which they named Kenwin. They formally adopted H.D.'s young daughter, Perdita. In 1928, H.D. became pregnant with Macpherson's child, but chose to abort the pregnancy. Bryher divorced MacPherson in 1947, she and Doolittle no longer lived together after 1946, but continued their relationship until Doolittle's death in 1961.
. Only one POOL film, Borderline
(1930), starring H.D. and Paul Robeson
, survives in its entirety. In common with the Borderline novellas, it explores extreme psychic states and their relationship to surface reality. Bryher herself plays an innkeeper.
Bryher's most notable non-fiction work was Film Problems of Soviet Russia (1929). In Close Up she compared Hollywood unfavorably with Soviet filmmaking, arguing that the studio system
had "lowered the standards" of cinema. Her writings also helped to bring Sergei Eisenstein
to the attention of the British public.
, about a group of people trying to escape an unnamed country for a place called Avalon on the eve of revolution.
From 1940 to 1946 she lived in London with H.D. and supervised the literary magazine Life and Letters To-day. She later wrote a memoir of these years entitled The Days of Mars, as well as a novel, Beowulf (1948), set during the Blitz.
Starting in 1952, she wrote a series of historical novels. Most are set in Britain during various eras; Roman Wall (1954) and The Coin of Carthage (1963) are set in the Roman Empire
; Ruan (1960) is set in a post-Arthurian
Britain. They are well researched and vivid, typically set in times of turmoil and often seen from the perspective of a young man. Ruan portrays the adventures of a Druid
Novice
who yearns to escape the confines of his surroundings and upbringing to become a sea captain.
Acclaimed in her own time, her historical novels have now fallen out of print. Since 2000, Visa for Avalon, her early semi-autobiographical novels Development and Two Selves, her memoir The Heart to Artemis, and her historical novel The Player's Boy have all been republished.
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
. Her father was the shipowner and financier John Ellerman
John Ellerman
Sir John Reeves Ellerman, 1st Baronet, CH was an English shipowner and investor. He was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in modern British history, and the only Briton of his generation whose wealth rivalled the leading plutocrats of America's gilded age...
, who at the time of his death in 1933, was the richest Englishman who had ever lived. He lived with her mother Hannah Glover, but did not marry her until 1908.
Early life
She traveled in Europe as a child, to France, Italy and Egypt. At the age of fourteen she was enrolled in a traditional English boarding school and at around this time her mother and father married. On one of her travels, Ellerman journeyed to the Isles of ScillyIsles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
off the southwestern coast of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and acquired her future pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
from her favourite island, Bryher
Bryher, Isles of Scilly
Bryher is the smallest of the five inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly. It is home to a population of 83 . Bryher has an area of .-Geography:...
.
During the 1920s, Bryher was an unconventional figure in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Among her circle of friends were Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, Sylvia Beach
Sylvia Beach
Sylvia Beach , born Nancy Woodbridge Beach, was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and II.-Early life:...
and Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott , born Bernice Abbott, was an American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 1930s.-Youth:...
. Her wealth enabled her to give financial support to struggling writers, including Joyce and Edith Sitwell
Edith Sitwell
Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE was a British poet and critic.-Background:Edith Sitwell was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, the oldest child and only daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 4th Baronet, of Renishaw Hall; he was an expert on genealogy and landscaping...
. She also helped with finance for Sylvia Beach's bookshop Shakespeare and Company
Shakespeare and Company (bookshop)
Shakespeare and Company is the name of two independent bookstores on Paris' Left Bank. The first was opened by Sylvia Beach on 17 November 1919 at 8 rue Dupuytren before moving to larger premises at 12 rue de l'Odéon in the 6th arrondissement in 1922. During the 1920s, it was a gathering place for...
and certain publishing ventures, and started a film company Pool Group
Pool Group
The Pool Group were a trio of interwar period artists, filmmakers and poets consisting of Hilda Doolittle, Kenneth Macpherson and Bryher . Their work has been studied by poetry and film historians as well as by scholars of mysticism, feminism, psychoanalysis and LGBT history...
. She also helped provide funds to purchase a flat in Paris for the destitute Dada artist and writer Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
ess Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven was a German-born avant-garde, Dadaist artist and poet who worked for several years in Greenwich Village, New York City, United States.-Early life:Freytag-Loringhoven was born Elsa Hildegard Plötz in Swinemünde , German Empire,...
.
Lifelong relationship and later life
Bryher knew from an early age that she was lesbian. In 1918 she met and became involved in a lesbianLesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
relationship with poet Hilda Doolittle (better known by her initials, H.D.). The relationship was an open
Open relationship
An open relationship is an interpersonal relationship in which the parties want to be together but agree to a form of a non-monogamous relationship. This means that they agree that a romantic or sexual relationship with another person is accepted, permitted, or tolerated...
one, with both taking other partners. In 1921 she entered into a marriage of convenience
Marriage of convenience
A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than the reasons of relationship, family, or love. Instead, such a marriage is orchestrated for personal gain or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as political marriage. The phrase is a calque of - a marriage of...
with the American author Robert McAlmon
Robert McAlmon
Robert Menzies McAlmon was an American author, poet and publisher.-Life:McAlmon was born in Clifton, Kansas, the youngest of ten children of an itinerant Presbyterian minister....
, whom she divorced in 1927. http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biob6/bryh1.html
That same year she married Kenneth Macpherson
Kenneth Macpherson
Kenneth Macpherson was born in Scotland, 27 March 1902, the son of Scottish painter, John 'Pop' Macpherson and Clara Macpherson. Descended from 6 generations of artists, Macpherson was a novelist, photographer, critic and film-maker...
, a writer who shared her interest in film and who was at the same time H.D.'s lover. In Burier, Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva, the couple built a Bauhaus-style style structure that doubled as a home and film studio, which they named Kenwin. They formally adopted H.D.'s young daughter, Perdita. In 1928, H.D. became pregnant with Macpherson's child, but chose to abort the pregnancy. Bryher divorced MacPherson in 1947, she and Doolittle no longer lived together after 1946, but continued their relationship until Doolittle's death in 1961.
Filmmaking and film criticism
Bryher, H.D., and Macpherson formed the film magazine Close Up, and the Pool GroupPool Group
The Pool Group were a trio of interwar period artists, filmmakers and poets consisting of Hilda Doolittle, Kenneth Macpherson and Bryher . Their work has been studied by poetry and film historians as well as by scholars of mysticism, feminism, psychoanalysis and LGBT history...
. Only one POOL film, Borderline
Borderline (1930 film)
Borderline is a 1930 film, written and directed by Kenneth Macpherson and produced by the Pool Group in Territet, Switzerland. The silent film, with English inter-titles, is primarily noted for its handling of the contentious issue of inter-racial relationships, using avant-garde experimental...
(1930), starring H.D. and Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
, survives in its entirety. In common with the Borderline novellas, it explores extreme psychic states and their relationship to surface reality. Bryher herself plays an innkeeper.
Bryher's most notable non-fiction work was Film Problems of Soviet Russia (1929). In Close Up she compared Hollywood unfavorably with Soviet filmmaking, arguing that the studio system
Studio system
The studio system was a means of film production and distribution dominant in Hollywood from the early 1920s through the early 1960s. The term studio system refers to the practice of large motion picture studios producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under...
had "lowered the standards" of cinema. Her writings also helped to bring Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
to the attention of the British public.
World War II and after
In a 1933 article in Close up entitled "What Shall You Do in the War?", Bryher wrote about the situation of Jews in Germany, urging readers to take action. Starting that year, her home in Switzerland became a "receiving station" for refugees; she helped more than 100 people escape Nazi persecution before she was forced to flee herself in 1940. This experience influenced her 1965 "Science Fantasy" novel Visa for AvalonVisa for Avalon
Visa for Avalon is a 1965 novel by Bryher. It was re-released by Paris Press in 2004 with a new introduction by Susan McCabe.-Plot summary:...
, about a group of people trying to escape an unnamed country for a place called Avalon on the eve of revolution.
From 1940 to 1946 she lived in London with H.D. and supervised the literary magazine Life and Letters To-day. She later wrote a memoir of these years entitled The Days of Mars, as well as a novel, Beowulf (1948), set during the Blitz.
Starting in 1952, she wrote a series of historical novels. Most are set in Britain during various eras; Roman Wall (1954) and The Coin of Carthage (1963) are set in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
; Ruan (1960) is set in a post-Arthurian
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
Britain. They are well researched and vivid, typically set in times of turmoil and often seen from the perspective of a young man. Ruan portrays the adventures of a Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
Novice
Novice
A novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
who yearns to escape the confines of his surroundings and upbringing to become a sea captain.
Acclaimed in her own time, her historical novels have now fallen out of print. Since 2000, Visa for Avalon, her early semi-autobiographical novels Development and Two Selves, her memoir The Heart to Artemis, and her historical novel The Player's Boy have all been republished.
Novels
- Development (1920)
- Two Selves (1923)
- West (1925)
- Civilians (1927)
- Manchester (serialized, 1935-1936)
- Beowulf (1948)
- The Fourteenth of October (1952)
- The Player's Boy (1953)
- Roman Wall (1954)
- The Player's Boy (1957)
- Gate to the Sea (1958)
- Ruan (1960)
- The Coin of Carthage (1963)
- Visa for Avalon (1965)
- This January Tale (1966)
- The Colors of Vaud (1969)
Nonfiction
- Amy Lowell: A Critical Appreciation (1918)
- A Picture Geography for Little Children: Part One - Asia (1925)
- Film Problems of Soviet Russia (1929)
- The Light-hearted Student: I German (1930 - grammar text)
- The Heart to Artemis: a Writer's Memoirs (1963)
- The Days of Mars: a Memoir, 1940–1946 (1972)