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Constan Olive Leland Bardwell (25 February 1922 – 28 June 2016) was an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright. She was part of the literary scene in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and later
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, where she was an editor of literary magazines ''Hibernia'' and ''
Cyphers Cyphers may refer to:
* ''Cyphers'' (magazine), Irish literary publication
"Cyphers" is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Charles Cyphers
Charles Cyphers (born July 28, 1939) is an American actor who is known in the horror ...
''. She published five volumes of poetry, novels, plays and short stories, for which she received the Marten Toonder Award and the Dede Korkut Short Story Award from Turkish PEN.
In later life, she moved to
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
, where she co-founded the Scríobh Literary Festival. Her memoir ''A Restless Life'' details her difficult upbringing and her experiences in London and Dublin.
Early life
Bardwell was born Constan Olive Leland Hone in India to Irish parents William Hone and Mary Collise, and moved to Ireland at the age of two. Her father's family were of the
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
Hone family
The Hone family is an Anglo-Irish family dating back to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland when Samuel Hone arrived with the Parliamentary army in 1649. The family is believed to be of Dutch extraction, although no connection to the Netherlands ha ...
.
Bardwell had a difficult childhood growing up in
Leixlip, County Kildare. She was educated at
Alexandra College
Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos.
History
The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...
and briefly studied in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. She worked in a variety of jobs in Ireland and later
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, where, in 1948, she met poet Michael Bardwell. The couple had two children and later separated.
Literary career
Bardwell became a part of the literary scene of
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
in London, where she socialised with fellow writers, including
Anthony Cronin
Anthony Gerard Richard Cronin (28 December 1923 – 27 December 2016) was an Irish poetry, Irish poet, arts activist, biographer, commentator, critic, editor and barrister.
Early life and family
Cronin was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford on ...
,
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
,
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...
and
Anthony Burgess
John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer.
Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...
.
In the 1950s, she met Fintan McLachlan, with whom she had three children, including the composer
John McLachlan. The family moved back to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, where Bardwell worked as a reviewer for ''Hibernia'' magazine and as a poetry editor.
From 1970 onward, Bardwell's work was published regularly, starting with her first volume of poetry, ''The Mad Cyclist'', which was later followed by her first novel, ''
Girl on a Bicycle''. Bardwell wrote a number of plays and short stories, such a
''Outpatients'' and her works were produced for
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. In 1984, Bardwell wrote a musical play, ''No Regrets'', based on the life of
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars.
Pia ...
. It opened at the
Gaiety Theatre starring
Anne Bushnell
Anne Bushnell (28 March 1939 – 21 April 2011) was an Irish jazz and blues singer and cabaret performer.
Early life and family
Anne Bushnell was born Anne Kavanagh in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin on 28 March 1939. She was one of four children ...
, and later toured across Ireland.
Bardwell's work was heavily influenced by her difficult upbringing and her experiences in London and Dublin. In her memoir, ''A Restless Life,'' she described her life as "a crescendo of madness".
She is considered an important poet by her contemporaries, who included
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...
,
John Jordan,
Paul Durcan
Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet.
Early life
Durcan was born and grew up in Dublin and in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge; father and son had a difficult and forma ...
,
Macdara Woods
Macdara Woods (1942 – 15 June 2018) was an Irish poet.
Biography
Woods was born in Dublin, where he attended Gonzaga College and then University College Dublin. He married the poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. They had one son, Niall, a musician. ...
and
Michael Hartnett
Michael Hartnett ( ga, Mícheál Ó hAirtnéide) (18 September 1941 – 13 October 1999) was an Irish poet who wrote in both English and Irish. He was one of the most significant voices in late 20th-century Irish writing and has been called " Mu ...
. On the publication of Bardwell's fourth collection of poetry, ''The White Beach'',
Eilean Ni Chuilleanain stated "it is good to see her work of the decades collected – it has inspired many Irish poets, male and female, and should be much more widely known", adding that her work was "witty, full of sharp intimate honesty, full of truth and surprises."
In 1975, Bardwell co-founded the long running literary magazine ''Cyphers'' with
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin (; born 1942) is an Irish poet and academic. She was the Ireland Professor of Poetry (2016–19).
Biography
Ní Chuilleanáin was born in Cork in 1942. She is the daughter of Eilís Dillon and Professor Cormac Ó Cuil ...
and
Macdara Woods
Macdara Woods (1942 – 15 June 2018) was an Irish poet.
Biography
Woods was born in Dublin, where he attended Gonzaga College and then University College Dublin. He married the poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. They had one son, Niall, a musician. ...
, and acted as a co-editor until 2012. She was the recipient of the Marten Toonder Award in 1993, and the Dede Korkut Short Story Award from Turkish PEN in 2010.
In later life, Bardwell moved to Annamakarraig in
County Monaghan
County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...
and later to Cloonagh in
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
, where in 1993 she co-founded the Scríobh Literary Festival.
Bardwell was a member of the Irish artists' association
Aosdána
Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...
and acted as one of
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...
's literary executors.
Published works
;Poetry
* ''The Mad Cyclist''
ew Writers' Press, 1970* ''The Fly and the Bed Bug''
eaver Row Press, 1984* ''Dostoevsky's Grave: Selected Poems''
edalus, 1991* ''The White Beach: New and Selected Poems, 1960-1998''
almon Publishing, 1998* ''Them's Your Mammy's Pills''
edalus, 2015
;Novels
* ''
Girl on a Bicycle''
rish Writers Co-operative, 1977* ''That London Winter''
o-op Books, 1981* ''The House''
randon, 1984* ''There We Have Been''
ttic Press, 1989* ''Mother to a Stranger''
lackstaff Press, 2002
;Short story collection
* ''Different Kinds of Love''
ttic Press, 1987
;Memoir
* ''A Restless Life''
iberties Press, 2008
;Plays
* ''Thursday''
rinity College, Dublin, 1974* ''Open Ended Prescription''
Peacock Theatre, Dublin,1979* ''The Edith Piaf Story''
ational Stadium, Dublin, 1984* ''Jocasta''
há Ean Theatre company, Sligo 2001
Contributions
''Ms. Muffet and Others: A Funny, Sassy, Heretical Collection of Feminist Fairytales.'' Dublin, Attic Press, 1986.
References
External links
* Bardwell'
website
The Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Republic of Ireland, Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditional ...
's review of "A Restless Life"
Dedalus Press her poetry publisher
Liberties PressThe author's publishers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardwell, Leland
1922 births
2016 deaths
20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Irish women writers
20th-century Irish writers
20th-century Irish novelists
20th-century Irish poets
21st-century Irish women writers
21st-century Irish writers
21st-century Irish male writers
Aosdána members
Irish women dramatists and playwrights
Irish women novelists
Irish women poets
Irish people of Dutch descent
People from County Kildare