    anna kavan (born helen emily woods; 10 april 1901 â 5 december 1968) was a british novelist, short story writer and painter. originally publishing under her first married name, helen ferguson, she adopted the name anna kavan in 1939, not only as a nom de plume but as her legal identity. ==biography== ===early life and literary career as ferguson=== anna kavan was born helen emily woods in cannes, south of france, the only child of a wealthy british family.brian aldiss, "in memoriam", p249 her parents travelled frequently and kavan grew up in europe and the united states. as an adult she remembered her childhood as lonely and neglected, emphasized by her father's suicide in 1914. kavan was sent to a boarding school in lausanne, switzerland, before going back to the uk where she attended parsons mead school in ashstead and malvern college in worcestershire. disregarding her daughter's desire to go to oxford, her mother arranged an encounter with her former lover, donald ferguson. helen emily woods married him in 1919, few months before he took a position with the railway company in burma. she moved with her husband, began to write and gave birth to her son bryan. in 1925, kavan left ferguson and returned with her son to the uk. all of these biographical events make up the underlying narratives of her initial bildungsroman let me alone (1930) while who are you? (1963), written in a nouveau roman style, is an experimental variation of her tropical hell in burma. back to london alone in the mid 20's, she began studying painting at the london central school of arts and crafts, and continued to paint throughout her life. kavan regularly travelled to the french riviera where she was introduced to heroin by her tennis coach âto improve her serveâironside virginia, "julia and the bazooka" peter owen publishers reprint 2007, introduction. and by race car drivers she took up with. from then on, her syringe was to become her 'bazooka'. in 1928 she divorced
1901_births 1968_deaths 20th-century_novelists 20th-century_women_writers British_novelists British_women_short_story_writers English_short_story_writers Women_novelists