J.M. Barrie – författare

Ever since Peter Pan flew in through Wendy Darling''s nursery window and took her off to Never Land, Barrie''s classic adventure story has thrilled and delighted generations of theatre-goers. J M Barrie wrote Peter Pan first as a work of prose and then adapted it for the stage. John Caird and Trevor Nunn first adapted Barrie''s book and play in the 1980s for the Royal Shakespeare Company and then in 1997 for the Royal National Theatre.

Ever since Peter Pan flew in through Wendy Darling''s nursery window and took her off to Never Land, Barrie''s classic adventure story has thrilled and delighted generations of theatre-goers. J M Barrie wrote Peter Pan first as a work of prose and then adapted it for the stage. John Caird and Trevor Nunn first adapted Barrie''s book and play in the 1980s for the Royal Shakespeare Company and then in 1997 for the Royal National Theatre.

The short story is often viewed as an inferior relation to the Novel. But it is an art in itself. To take a story and distil its essence into fewer pages while keeping character and plot rounded and driven is not an easy task. Many try and many fail. In this series we look at short stories from many of our most accomplished writers. Miniature masterpieces with a lot to say. In this volume we examine some of the short stories of JM Barrie. Peter Pan is a classic story. The Admirable Crichton is a classic play. And here, in this volume are two classic short stories. They are certainly of their day and perfect pieces of their craft. And really that’s not surprising for JM Barrie was a writer of great note. Short stories are often overlooked as being the poor, under-developed relative of a greater work. But from writers of the calibre of Barrie this is just not so. He picks stories and creates characters that drive, meld and create pages that in their numerically shorter length are in fact the perfect length. Many of these stories are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Word Of Mouth. Many samples are at our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The audiobook volume of this book can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. They are read for you by Richard Mitchley

J.M. Barrie’s novel, The Little White Bird, combines fantastic and humorous happenings with social comedy. It represents the foundational work of what has now become a whole mythology established around the fictional character of Peter Pan. The different chapters differ in tone and in the degree of seriousness and intensity. The chapters featuring Peter pan are set in London’s famous Kensington Gardens of which they provide minute descriptions. When the gardens are closed to the public by the end of the day, supernatural beings such as fairies get out of their hiding places to roam in the park. The other chapters of the novel are generally set in the city of London. Among the most memorable characters of The Little White Bird, one can mention Captain W who is also the narrator of story, the little child David who takes part in the story before he was even born, and, of course, Peter pan, the strange young boy with magical powers who has many things in common with the fairies. The Peter Pan mythology is mainly based on the strange happenings and the eccentric celebrations and habits which are depicted in this book.

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM, was born in Kirriemuir, Angus the ninth of ten children on May 9th, 1860. From early formative experiences, Barrie knew that he wished to follow a career as an author. His family wished otherwise and sought to persuade him to choose a profession, such as the ministry. The compromise was that he would attend university to study literature at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated with an M.A. on April 21st, 1882. His first job was as a staff journalist for the Nottingham Journal. The London editor of the St. James''s Gazette "liked that Scotch thing" in Barrie’s short stories about his mother’s early life. They also served as the basis for his first novels. Barrie though was increasingly drawn to working in the theatre. His first play, a biography of Richard Savage, was only performed once and critically panned. Undaunted he immediately followed this with Ibsen''s Ghost in 1891, a parody of Ibsen''s plays Hedda Gabler and Ghosts. Barrie''s third play, Walker, London, in 1892 led to an introduction to his future wife, a young actress by the name of Mary Ansell. The two became friends, and she helped his family to care for him when he fell very ill in 1893 and 1894. Barrie proposed and they were married, in Kirriemuir, on July 9th, 1894. By some accounts the relationship was unconsummated and indeed the couple had no children. The story of Peter Pan had begun to formulate when Barrie became acquainted with the Llewelyn Davis family in 1897, meeting George, Jack and baby Peter with their nanny in London''s Kensington Gardens. In 1901 and 1902, Barrie had back-to-back theatre successes with Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton. The character of "Peter Pan" first appeared in The Little White Bird in 1902. This most famous and enduring of his works; Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn''t Grow Up had its first stage performance on December 27th, 1904. Peter Pan would overshadow everything written during his career. He continued to write for the rest of his life contributing many other fine and important works. Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM, died of pneumonia on June 19th,1937 and was buried at Kirriemuir next to his parents and two of his siblings.