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1882-1937
Poet and playwright. Born at Leytonstone, Essex, the son of a schoolmaster who turned to acting. He grew up in Oxfordshire and, on leaving school at 15, became an insurance clerk in Nottingham, moving with the company in 1901 to Birmingham. He found this work un-interesting and turned to literature, his first volume of poetry being published when he was twenty-one. A founder member of the Pilgrim Players he went on to become the first manager of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. John Drinkwater's first full-length play was Rebellion (1914) but his first real success writing for the theatre came in 1918 with Abraham Lincoln. He followed this with Mary Stuart (1921) Oliver Cromwell (1921) and Bird in hand (1927), a popular comedy. He also wrote stories for children and critical studies on William Morris, Algernon Swinburne and Samuel Pepys.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
Abraham Lincoln (1918)
All about me
Collected plays of John Drinkwater vol 1
Collected plays of John Drinkwater vol 2
Death of Leander and other poems
English poetry: an unfinished history
Gentle art of theatre-going
Inheritance (1931)
Loyalities
Lyric
Man's house: a play in three acts
Mary Stuart (1922)
Mr Charles
Oliver Cromwell (1921)
Olton pools
Pawns and cophetua: four poetic plays
Poems (1903)
Preludes 1921-1922
Rebellion: a play in three acts (1914)
Robert Burns: a play
Robinson of England
Seeds of time
Summer harvest: poems 1924-1933 (1933)
Swords and ploughshares
This troubled world
A selection of poetry by the author can be found at Poet's corner, including A town window and Of Greatham (to those who live there).
The Literary Encyclopedia has a profile of John Drinkwater by James Bridges, Cheltenham and Gloucester College.
Page created 9 February 2001 and last
updated 7 April 2005
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