Iris Murdoch's 'Joanna Joanna' Archive
TitleIris Murdoch's 'Joanna Joanna' Archive
ReferenceKUAS228
Date
1969; 1994
Creator Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999, author
Production date 1969-01-01 - 1994-12-31
Scope and ContentIris Murdoch wrote the play 'Joanna Joanna Joanna' in 1969. It was never produced for the stage but was eventually published by Colophon Press in 1994 with a limited run of 137 copies. During the publication process the play was referred to as 'Joanna', but using printing dates of proof copies it appears that the decision to use the final title of 'Joanna Joanna' was taken between 27 and 30 Aug 1994. In addition to the typescripts and proofs of the play, the Archive contains correspondence and documents relating to typesetting and promotion for the published edition.
Extent2 boxes
Archival historyKindly presented by the Iris Murdoch Society
Persons keyword Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999, author, Colophon Press
SubjectTheatre, Theatrical Productions, Scripts, Proof Copies, Publishing, Books, Correspondence, Joanna, Joanna (play)
Admin. history/BiographyIris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, where Iris attended the Froebel Institute in Roehampton and Badminton School in Bristol. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the Second World War Murdoch worked for HM Treasury in London and then joined the UNRRA, providing relief in formerly occupied countries in Europe. In 1948 she became a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught and researched philosophy.
Iris Murdoch wrote a number of tracts on philosophy, however it is for her novels that she is best known. She wrote 26 novels in total, her first being 'Under the Net' published in 1954. Other notable works include 'The Bell' and 'The Sea, the Sea', for which she won the Booker Prize in 1978. Her final novel, 'Jackson's Dilemma', was published in 1995.
Iris Murdoch had romantic relationships with a number of individuals. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford and they married in 1956.
Later in life Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. Iris Murdoch died in 1999.
Levelfonds
