Louisa Alice Baker (

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

s, Mrs. Louis Alien Baker, Louisa Alien Baker, and Alien; 13 January 1856 – 22 March 1926) was an English-born New Zealand journalist and novelist.

Early years

Louisa Alice Dawson was born in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England, on 13 January 1856. At the age of 7, her family immigrated to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

Career

In 1874, she married John William Baker and they had two children, John William Walter Baker and Ethel Elizabeth Baker She used several pen names for the different aspects for her career. When writing for the ''

Otago Witness The ''Otago Witness'' was a prominent illustrated weekly newspaper in the early years of the European settlement of New Zealand, produced in Dunedin, the provincial capital of Otago. Published weekly it existed from 1851 to 1932. The introduction ...

'' writing their children's column she was known as 'Dot' and used the name 'Alice when writing for the ''

'' women's column. She continued to write for the ''Witness'' after she moved to England in 1894. After her move to England, Louisa wrote novels under the name 'Alien' and continued to write popular articles until her death in 1926 as a result of burns from a stove fire in her home. In 1886, Baker moved with her children to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand to work for the ''

'' as writer. Initially, she began working as a writer for a women's column. She then began to write for the children's column first called Letters From Little Folk which later became known as Our Little Folks and finally Dot's Little Folks. She would respond to children's questions and write short stories. At some point in 1893, Baker left New Zealand to publish her first novel in England. Due to her many pen names, her novels can be found under many names which include: Louisa Alice Baker, Mrs. Louis Alien Baker, Louisa Alien Baker, and Alien. Most of her novels are credited to 'Alien'. Her first novel ''A daughter of the king'' was published in 1894, followed by ''The majesty of man : a novel'' (1895), ''In golden shackles'' (1896), ''The untold half'' (1899), ''The devil's half-acre'' (1900) ''Another woman's territory'' (1901), ''His neighbour's landmark'' (1907), and ''A Maid of Mettle'' (1913). Baker began writing a column for the ''

'' again in 1903 called "Alien's Letter from England". She wrote for them until her death in 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Louisa Alice 1856 births 1926 deaths 19th-century New Zealand writers 19th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand novelists 20th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand journalists British emigrants to the Colony of New Zealand New Zealand women journalists New Zealand women novelists People from Warwickshire (before 1974) 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 19th-century women journalists