The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-12
MANY FEMININE AUTHORS
 USE NAMES OF MEN

Some interesting reason why women novelists choose to write under mascu- line pseudonyms are given by a num- ber of famous English writers as fol- lows:, says a writer in The Brooklyn Eagle.
 Charles Mariowe GMiss Harriet Jay) -I write plays under the name of Charles Marlnwe because. being novelist as we'll as a dramatist, I think 1t better to keep the me quite distinct from the other.
 My reason for choosing this particular | name Is simple When the idea of us- l Ing dramatic nom de plume first oc- cured to me. happened to be writing | a comedy which was afterwards pro- duced at the vaudeville theatre under | the title of Fascination" The leading part of this play--that of a girl who impersonates boy--I created myself. and made in fl a great success. The name of the girl was "I.ady Madge Hazelton." that of the boy. Charles Marlowe." have used the name ever since.
 John Strange Winter tMrs. Arthur Stannard)--On the whole. think 1t | is to a womans disadvantage to write as q man, as it may convey an idea | to some people that she Is not good enough to stand on her own personal tty.
 The bitter truth was that my first publishers refused to bring out Cav arly Life under a feminine pseudonym. [ have no doubt they were wise and. though did not relish it, I was enough of Yorkshire woman to recognize on which side my bread was buttered.
 With regard to the actual choice of the pen name. one of the stories In Cavalry Life" was told in the first person, and the character was Cornet John Strange Winter. After some com sideration thought I could not do better than credit this imaginary char racter with the other stories also. George Frost (Mrs. Octavius Eddi- son)-I write under a mans name be- cause I believe woman's work Is l handicapped by the mere fact of her sex. The voteless woman witnesses to the injustice of men an injustice which Is dealt to women by editors and pulp fishers in common. with other men The use of a male pen name gives l writer a potter chance of publication and a fair payment.
 Theo. Gift Mrs. D. H. Bulger)-My reason for taking "Theo. Gift as pseudonym were simple. When 1 be- gan to write novels and publish them thirty-six years ago-I was young girl; and at that date girls wers neith- CT hardened to outside opinions nor as independent of their elders as they are uow If I had attempted to make name for myself In the literary world under my own patronymic and had been III received, 1t would have been felt that had disgrRced the family name.
 So I took a pseudodnym. which, af- ter all was own already. My name IS Dorothea or Theodora, which means Gift of God" translated Dora" into eft" leaving 'Theo" (from a sense ot 1 modesty. which I am sure you will feel was not unealled ferl an the orsinal -.~.a1 Nnxa 4f It served me well. It was short and | simple. and the public and my review CTS treated 1t so kindly. even from its | Hrst using. till illness laid 1t on the shelf, that have grown to feel & ten- derness for iti
 Curtis Yorke (Mrs. s. c. Richmond Lee) The principal reason that choose Curtis Yorke as O pen name was that | { did not want my work to be Judged
 with the tendency frequently accorded | to women's work twenty one years ago.
 but that 1t should be reviewed either
 tayorably or unfavorably ou its own
 merits.
 George Patson Miss F. M. Symonds Nearly every review of every novel
 and every play I have writton has be- gun with some form of this question:
 Why do all women writers take the l name of GeorgeT" It would be about
 us reasonable to ask: Why are all
 men writers born with the name Of
 Bensonr" As a mutter nf fact. be ..
 Iieve there are fewer women writers
 with the pseudonym of George than
 there are men writers with the family
 Lame of Benson.
 When I chose the name of George , Pa;son" there was no other female
 George In the field except George
 eleming, who had not come before
 the public for some time.
 It AS a Norfolk woman I choose the
 name Of Patson from the little village | where the letters come from But it may
 ne asked. why does a woman prefer to write under a masculine pseudonym | rather than under her own name? The answer is to be found partly in the de. sire for fair play. which a woman se)- dom gets from men, and partly from
 dread of making a public failure. When
 say that a woman seldom gets faIT play I don't mean that she is neces.
 sarily treated more harshly on accounI
 of her sex; l mean that she is often
 treated with so-called chivalry--In
 other words, a contemptuous inhuI-
 gence-on account of her sex. The mo-
 iices of novels n the critical and
 monthly reviews frequently begin with
 some remark as: This work Is written by a lady. consequently not the object
 of severe criticism"
 l