Anna Kavan facts for kids

Anna Kavan (born Helen Emily Woods; 10 April 1901 – 5 December 1968) was a British writer and painter. She wrote novels and short stories. She first published books using her married name, Helen Ferguson. In 1939, she started using the name Anna Kavan. This became her pen name and her legal name.

About Anna Kavan

Early Life and Writing

Anna Kavan was born Helen Emily Woods in Cannes, France. Her family was wealthy and traveled a lot. She grew up in Europe and the United States. She felt lonely as a child. Later, she went to boarding schools in the UK.

In 1920, Helen married Donald Ferguson. They moved to Burma, where she started writing. She also had a son named Bryan. In 1923, she returned to the UK with her son. Her early books, like Let Me Alone (1930), were inspired by her life.

In London, she studied painting at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts. She loved art and painted throughout her life.

In 1928, she married an artist named Stuart Edmonds. They traveled around Europe. A year later, she published her first novel, A Charmed Circle. She wrote five more books over the next eight years.

Kavan and Edmonds had a daughter, Margaret, who sadly passed away soon after birth. They then adopted a child named Susanna.

Becoming Anna Kavan

Asylum Piece (1940) was her first book published under the name Anna Kavan. This book was a collection of short stories. It explored deep thoughts and feelings. Anna Kavan was also a character in her earlier novels. After this book, her writing style changed a lot.

Anna Kavan loved to travel. When World War II began, she went on a long journey. From 1939 to 1943, she visited places like Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and the island of Bali. She also stayed in Napier, New Zealand for almost two years. Her travels were difficult because of the war.

When she returned to England in 1943, she worked at a hospital. She helped soldiers who were dealing with stress from the war. She also worked for a literary magazine called Horizon. She wrote stories and articles for the magazine.

In 1944, her son Bryan passed away while serving in the Second World War.

Kavan worked with a German psychiatrist named Karl Theodor Bluth. He became a close friend and they even wrote a book together called The Horse's Tale (1949). Bluth also helped her get treatment at a special clinic called Sanatorium Bellevue. There, she met another psychiatrist, Ludwig Binswanger.

In 1967, her novel Ice became very popular. This book was inspired by her time in New Zealand. It is a post-apocalyptic novel, meaning it tells a story after a big disaster. It is her most famous book.

Her later books were very different from her first ones. They explored dreams, addiction, and mental health. Her writing style was unique. She has been compared to famous writers like Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath.

Death and Legacy

Anna Kavan passed away on 5 December 1968. Many of her books were published after her death. Her friend, the Welsh writer Rhys Davies, helped edit some of them. Her publisher, Peter Owen, has continued to keep her books available for readers.

Many famous writers have praised Anna Kavan's work. These include Doris Lessing and J. G. Ballard.

In 2009, the Anna Kavan Society was started in London. Its goal is to encourage more people to read her books. It also helps with studies about her work.

Anna Kavan's paintings have been shown in art exhibitions. One exhibition in Tulsa, Oklahoma, displayed 36 of her paintings. Another exhibition in London showed how women's art can explore mental health.

Influences and Adaptations

Literature and Theater

Anna Kavan was friends with the writer Rhys Davies. He wrote a novel called Honeysuckle Girl (1975) that was based on her early life.

Her novel Ice was adapted for the theater in 2008 by François Verret. A play called Silverglass was also written about the friendship between Rhys Davies and Anna Kavan.

Music and Art

Anna Kavan's books have inspired musicians. The band Uzi released an album called Sleep Asylum, inspired by her book Sleep Has His House. Another band, Current 93, also named an album after her book. The band Carta named a song Kavan after her.

A French artist named Floriane Pochon created a sound artwork called Ice Lady. It was based on Kavan's novel Ice.

Artists Heather and Ivan Morison created an art installation called Anna. It used puppets and performance to tell a story inspired by Kavan's life and books.

Further Sources

Biographies

• The Case of Anna Kavan : A Biography, by David Callard. London: Peter Owen, 1994
• A Stranger on Earth: The Life and Work of Anna Kavan, by Jeremy Reed. London: Peter Owen, 2006
• Anna Kavan's New-Zealand, by Jennifer Sturm. Auckland: Random House Books, 2009
• Stranger Still: The Works of Anna Kavan, by Francis Booth. London:Lulu.com, 2013

Major Archives

The largest collection of Anna Kavan's writings and artwork is at the University of Tulsa's McFarlin Library. Other important collections of her letters and papers are at the Harry Ransom Center in Texas and the National Library of Wales.

Images for kids

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  Sanatorium Bellevue: a part of the glass menagerie

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  Kavan's House in Peel Street London

See Also

In Spanish: Anna Kavan para niños

• Modernism
• Women's Writing
• Autobiographical novel
• Nonlinear narrative