Bryher Facts
Known for:
patron and partner of the Imagist poet
H.D.
(Hilda Doolittle)
Occupation:
poet, writer, critic
Dates:
September 2, 1894 - January 28, 1983
Also known as: Annie
Winifred Ellerman (she had her name changed legally to Bryher)
Bryher Biography:
Born Annie Winifred Ellerman in East Kent, England, she changed her name to Bryher in honor of her favorite island off the coast of Britain.
Bryher began writing magazine articles in 1917. In 1918, she met the poet H.D. and they began a long committed but open relationship. Each had other lovers. H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) was married when they met, though the marriage had cooled because H.D.'s child was not her husband's.
Bryher moved in a literary circle that included Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound (H.D.'s former fiance and lover), Berenice Abbott and James Joyce. She helped support James Joyce and Sylvia Beach.
On a trip to America in 1921, Bryher married Robert McAlmon, possibly to escape control of her parents. She and H.D. moved to Switzerland in 1923, with H.D.'s daughter. In 1927, Bryher divorced McAlmon and married Macpherson, who had been H.D.'s lover. Macpherson and Bryher adopted H.D.'s daughter, Perdita, giving her Macpherson's last name.
Macpherson, H.D. and Bryher founded both a film group, the Pool group, and an avant-garde cinema journal, Close-Up. Bryher's fortune helped fund many of these and other ventures of her friends. The three traveled together, but Macpherson, who also had relationships with men, drifted away from the couple.
Bryher helped refugees escape the Nazis in the 1930s, including many Jews, and herself left France for London when the Nazis invaded France. She and H.D. lived in London during the war.
Bryher and H.D. separated in 1946 after World War II, though they remained in close communication. Bryher and Macpherson formally divorced in 1947.
Bryher wrote poems and literary criticism, but is better known for her historical novels written in the 1950s and 1960s. She also wrote a book about Amy Lowell and her work.
Background, Family:
- Mother: Hannah Glover (who married John Ellerman in 1908)
- Father: Sir John Reeves Ellerman, very wealthy financier and ship owner
Education:
- English boarding schools
Marriage, Children:
- husband: Robert McAlmon (married 1921 - 1927; writer)
- husband: Kenneth Macpherson (married 1927 - 1947; filmmaker and writer)
- children:
- Bryher and Macpherson adopted H.D.'s daughter Perdita, changing her name to Frances Perdita Macpherson
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