Bryher (1894 - 1983)

British novelist, film producer, and literary and film critic Bryher was born Annie Winifred Ellerman in Margate, Kent.  She was the daughter of shipping magnate Sir John Ellerman, and took the name Bryher from one of the Scilly Isles for fear that use of her real name would have undue influence on publishers.  Her first husband, Robert McAlmon, was a gay publisher through whom she met and developed friendships with Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Havelock Ellis, Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and most importantly, Imagist poet Hilda Doolittle, or "H.D."  Bryher met H.D. at a difficult time in the poet's life, when she was dealing with her husband Richard Aldington's adultery and the recent birth of a daughter fathered by another man.  Bryher's admiration for H.D.'s poetry developed into friendship, which then developed into love.  Bryher took H.D. on as a travelling companion, and also cast her in two films developed by the POOL film production company which she co-founded with McAlmon.  Bryher and McAlmon also co-founded Close-Up, an important journal dedicated to film.  During this same time, Bryher wrote two fictionalized autobiographical novels, Development and Two Selves. During the 1930s, Bryher lived in Switzerland in a chateau which she built and shared with H.D.  It was Bryher, an early supporter of psycho-analysis, who introduced her companion to Sigmund Freud, and also helped found the journal The Psychoanalytic Review.  When the Second World War broke out, Bryher helped many Jewish refugees escape  to safety before she herself was forced to flee with H.D. to England as all territory bordering Switzerland became occupied by the Axis powers and fears arose that the country's neutrality might not be respected.   Returning to Switzerland after the conflict, Bryher began the work for which she is best known, her historical novels, noteworthy for their vivid and realistic portrayals of the periods in which they were set.   Her first such novel was Beowulf (1948), followed by The Fourteenth of October (1952), The Roman Wall (1954), The Player's Boy (1953), Gate to the Sea (1958), Ruan (1960), The Coin of Carthage (1963), and The January Tale (1966).  She also wrote two autobiographies, The Heart of Artemis (1962), and The Days of Mars (1972).  Sadly, most of her works are now out-of-print.  She continued her relationship with H.D. until the latter's death in 1961, and also helped support Alice B. Toklas following the death of Gertrude Stein.  Bryher died in Vevey, Switzerland. Links: Bryher - Queer Theory BRYHER PAPERS HD's Books in the Bryher Library xrefer - Bryher (1894 - 1983) POEMS - By Bryher for Keats Nicknames and Acronyms used by HD and her Circle HD The New Republic: ON FILMS: WE WANT BETTER FILMS!!! Bryher - Britannica.com KeywordTitleAuthor