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1903-1969
Novelist and short story writer. Particularly remembered writing as John Wyndham his real name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris and he used various combinations of his name during his career. Before the Second World War he wrote as John Beynon, John Beynon Harris and Wyndham Parkes. He was born in Knowle, Warwickshire, the son of a barrister and lived at Edgbaston, Birmingham until 1911 when his parents separated. After that he moved around the country with his mother and younger brother, the writer Vivian Beynon Harris.
After school he tried his hand at several jobs including farming, the law, art and advertising. He began writing science fiction stories, influenced by the work of H.G. Wells, and found a niche for his work in American magazines. In the mid 1930's he had his work published in British magazines and in book form, particularly in Tales of wonder, the first British science fiction magazine, which was published between 1937 and 1942. During the war he worked as a censor, including active service in France. He took a while to regain his writing strengths before finding great success with The day of the triffids in 1951 which describes the invasion of Earth by strange plants. He could take a fantastic idea and, through strong narrative and characterisation, turn a potentially ordinary science fiction tale into a miniature work of art. From a disaster of some kind he would develop a complex story of human triumph in adversity.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
Chocky (1968)
The chrysalids (1955)
Consider her ways and others (1961)
The day of the triffids (1951)
The Kraken wakes (1953)
The Midwich cuckoos (1957)
The secret people (1935) [Written as John Beynon]
The seeds of time (1959) [Short stories]
Sleepers of Mars (1973) [Short stories, written as John
Beynon, containing Sleepers of Mars, Worlds to
barter, Invisible monster, The man from Earth
and The third vibrator]
Stowaway to Mars (1972) [Written as John Beynon and
originally published as Planet plane (1936)]
Trouble with lichen (1960)
Wanderers of time (1973) [Short stories, containing
Wanderers of time, Derelict of space, Child of
Power, The last Lunarians and The puff-ball
menace]
A biography of John Wyndham can be found at http://members.tripod.com/wyndham/bio.htm
Page created 9 February 2001 and last
updated 28 October 2002
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