Djuna Barnes

Djuna Barnes (June 12, 1892 - June 18, 1982) played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing by women and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Paris.

New York

Barnes returned to Paris briefly in 1937 to sell the apartment that she and Wood had shared. She moved to New York in 1941, where she became a celibate recluse, living in a small apartment in 5 Patchin Place Greenwich Village. Her neighbours here included E. E. Cummings.

Related Topics:
1937 - 1941 - Celibate - Greenwich Village - E. E. Cummings

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Despite failing health which eventually saw her completely confined to her apartment, she published several more works, including the surrealist verse play, The Antiphon in 1958. This play was translated into Swedish by Karl Ragnar Gierow and U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and staged in Stockholm in 1962.

Related Topics:
Surrealist - 1958 - Swedish - Karl Ragnar Gierow - Dag Hammarskjöld - 1962

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Barnes has been cited as an influence by writers as diverse as Truman Capote, William Goyen, Isak Dinesen, John Hawkes, and Anais Nin. She was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1961. She was the last surviving member of the first generation of English-language modernists when she died in New York in 1982.

Related Topics:
Truman Capote - William Goyen - Isak Dinesen - John Hawkes - Anais Nin - National Institute of Arts and Letters - 1961 - English-language

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