Kenneth Morris (author)
Kenneth Morris | |
|---|---|
 Kenneth Morris, 1920s. | |
| Born | 31 July 1879 |
| Died | 21 April 1937 (aged 57) |
| Occupation | Writer |
Kenneth Vennor Morris (31 July 1879 – 21 April 1937), sometimes using the Welsh form of his name Cenydd Morus,[1] was a Welsh author and theosophist.[2] Born in South Wales, he relocated to London with his family as a child, and was educated at Christ's Hospital. In 1896, he lived in Dublin for a while, where he became friends with George William Russell.[2][3] From 1908 to 1930, Morris lived in California as a staffperson of the Theosophical Society headquarters at Point Loma. The last seven years of his life were spent back in his native Wales, during which time he founded seven Welsh theosophical lodges.
During his lifetime, Morris wrote short fantasy stories, poems and articles for Theosophical magazines. Some of these stories were gathered in the collection The Secret Mountain and Other Tales (1926).[2]
Morris was a friend of the writer Talbot Mundy, and the two writers often commentated on each other's work in the magazine The Theosophical Path.[4]
Reception
According to Ursula K. Le Guin, Morris is one of the three master prose stylists of fantasy of the 20th century, together with E. R. Eddison and J. R. R. Tolkien.[5]
Fantasy historian Darrell Schweitzer has described Kenneth Morris as "one of the finest stylists ever to write fantastic fiction and also one of the least known."[2]
Works
- The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed (1914) As Cenydd Morus.
- The Crest-Wave of Evolution (1919-1921)
- The Secret Mountain and Other Tales (1926)
- Book of the Three Dragons (1930)
- The Chalchiuhite Dragon: A Tale of Toltec Times (1992)
- The Dragon Path: Collected Tales of Kenneth Morris (1995)
Notes
- ^ White, Donna R. A Century of Welsh Myth in Children's Literature, 1998 (p. 151).
- ^ a b c d Schweitzer, Darrell (1996). "Morris, Kenneth (Vennor)". In Pringle, David (ed.). St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers. London: St. James Press. pp. 424–425. ISBN 1-55862-205-5.
- ^ Boyer, Robert and Zahorski, Kenneth. Visions and Imaginings: Classic Fantasy Fiction, Academy Chicago Publishers, 1992.
- ^ Taves, Brian. Talbot Mundy: Philosopher of Adventure McFarland, 2006 (p.137).
- ^ Le Guin, Ursula. The Language of the Night:Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ultramarine Publishing, 1980 (p.88).
References
- Anderson, Douglas A. (1992). "Afterword". In Kenneth Morris, The Chalchiuhite Dragon. Theosophical University Press. ISBN 1-55700-160-X. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
- Anderson, Douglas A. (February/March 1992). "The Coming of the God", Sunrise.
- Anderson, Douglas A. (February/March 2005). "Book Review: Book of the Three Dragons ", Sunrise.
- McCaffery, R.J. (Spring 2000). "Kenneth Morris (1879–1937)", Eye Dialect (Issue Two). Archived 15 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Kenneth Morris at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Kenneth Morris at Library of Congress, with 10 library catalogue records
Works online
- Works by Kenneth Morris at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Kenneth Morris at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed, online edition
- The Chalchiuhite Dragon:A Tale of Toltec Times, online edition
- Short stories, a play, and book excerpts. Archived 15 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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