The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-24
MONS DE- PLUME
OF WOMEN WRITER'S
NOveliStS Tell Why They
Use Masculine Names.
REASONS ARE INTERESTING
One Writes as DramatiEt Also, and
Wishes to Keep Each Pen Name
Distinct from the Other-AnOther
Thinks Male Pseudonyms Are,
After All, a Disadvantage.

After All, Disadvantage.
Some interesting reasons why womeI.
! noveiists choose to write under masculine
! pseudOnyms are given by a number OF
/ famous English writers, as follows:
/ Charles Marlowe Miss Harriet jay;
I, write plays under the name OF Charles
Marlowe" because. being a novelist as
well as a dramatist. I think it better to
keep the one quite distinct from the
other.
My reason for choosing this particular
name is simple When the idea Of 1sine
a dramatic nom de plume FIRST occurred
to me happened to be writing comedy
which was afterward produced at the
vaudeville theater under the title OF
/ Fascination" The leading part in this
play-that OF a girl who impersonates a
! boy-I created myself. and made IN It
/ great success The name Of the girl was
Lady Madge Hazleton. that OF the boy
! Charles Marlowe. have used the name
/ ever. since.
4 Bitter Literary Truth.
John Strange Winter Mrs Arthur stan
nard): On the whole I think It IS 10
woman's disadvantage TO write as a man.
as It may convey an idea 20 some people
that she is not good enough TO stand on
her own personality.
The bitter truth was that my first pub
fishers refused 10 bring out Cavalry
Life" under a feminine pseudonym. I
have no doubt they were wise. and
though I did not relish il. 7 was enough
OF Yorkshire woman TO recognize on
which side my bread was buttered-
With regard 10 the actual choice OF the
pen name one OF the stories IN Cavalry
Life was told in the first person. and the
character was Comet John Strange Win
ter. After some consideration I thought
I could not do better than credit this
I imaginary character with the other stories
also.
George Frost CIrs. Octavius Edison:
I write under a mans name because be
lieve 2 wonan's work IS handicapped by
the mere fact OF her sex. The v0teless
woman witnesses 10 the injustice OF men,
an injustice which IS dealt 10 women by
editors and publishers IN common with
Z
gives a writer a better chance OF publi-
cation and Il fair payment
Youth Il One Cause.
Theo. Gift Cldrs. D. II. BuIger}: Ny rea-
sons for taking ''Theo. Gift as a pseu-
donym were simple When I began to
write novels and publish them thirty-six
years ago-I was a young girl, and at
that date girls were neither as hardened
70 outside opinions nor as independent OF
their elders as they are now. II 1 had at
tempted 20 make e name for myself IN
the literary world under my own patro-
nymic and had been III received. Il would
have been felt that I had disgraced the
family name
So took a pseudonym which. after all.
was my own already. Ny name Is Dor
othy, the Angliczed version OF Dor
Othea or theodore. which means gift OF
God. I translated Dora into Gift.
leaving Thee (from a sense OF mod
esty which am sure you will feel was
not uncalled for IN the original Latin.
and-vOila tout
II served ne well Il was short and
simple. and the public and my reviewers
treated Il so kindly, even from its first
using. till Illness laid It on the shelf. that
I have grown 10 feel a tenderness for il
Curtis Torke Mrs s G Richmond
Lee: The principal reason that chose
Curtis YOTke" as pen name was that I
did not want my work 10 be judged with
the leniency frequently accorded 10 woul-
ems work twenty-one years ago, but that
it should be reviewed either favorably or
unfav0rably on its own merits. 4
why She Is George
George Pastor Miss T. NJ. Symonds):
Nearly every review OF every novel and
every play I have written has begun with
some form OF this question: why 90 all
women writer's take the name OF
-GeorgeZ II would be about as reason
able 70 ask: Why are al men writers
born with the name OF Benson?'" AS
matter Of fact. I believe there are fewer
women writer's with the pseudouym Of
George than there are men writer's with
the family name OF Benson.
When chose the name Of George Pas
ton there was no other female George
in the field except George Fleming. who
had not come before the public for some
time.
AS a Norfolk woman chose the name
OF Pastor from the little village where
the letters come from" But. Il may be
asked. why does woman prefer 10 write
under a masculine pseudonym rather
than under her own name? The answer
is to be found partly IN the desire Cor fair
play, which a wonnss- za:5on from
men. and partly from dread OF making
public failure. When I say that q woman
seldom gets fair play don't mean that
she is necessarily treated more harshiy
on account OF her sex. I mean that she
IS often treated with sO-caled chivalry-
in other words, a contemptuous indul-
gence-on account OF Ter sex The no.
tees OF novels in the cridcai and month |
ly reviews frequently bssIn with some |
such remark as: This wori. is written by |
q lady consequently nS- . object OF Sc /
we're criticism"