John Bowen
John Griffith Bowen, born on November 5, 1924, in Kolkata, India, was a notable British writer known for his contributions to literature and television. Growing up in a British expatriate family, he was educated in Great Britain, where he later attended Pembroke College, Oxford, focusing on history. His military service as a captain in the Mahratha Light Infantry during World War II preceded his academic pursuits. After graduating in 1951, Bowen began a career in writing, publishing his first novel, "The Truth Will Not Help Us," in 1956, which was well-received.
He transitioned to television writing, creating over twenty teleplays, often exploring complex themes and social issues. Bowen's theatrical work included adaptations of his own novels and classics, demonstrating his evolution from realistic to expressionist styles, influenced by prominent dramatists like Bertolt Brecht. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he continued to produce plays and novels, including notable works such as "Spot the Lady" and "The McGuffin." Bowen's diverse body of work reflects his commitment to serious storytelling, making him a significant figure in contemporary British literature and drama.
John Bowen
Playwright
- Born: November 5, 1924
- Birthplace: Kolkata, India
Biography
John Griffith Bowen was born in Kolkata, India, on November 5, 1924. The son of a British civil servant stationed in India, he went to Great Britain in 1930 to attend boarding school. Like the children of many expatriates, he was shunted around among British relatives during school holidays. Because World War II began before he finished secondary school, Bowen did not continue his education until the end of the war. He became a captain in the Mahratha Light Infantry Division, serving from 1943 until 1947 in India.
Bowen gained admission to Pembroke College, Oxford, following his military service. Because Oxford had no space for him until the following year, he taught school for a year. His major emphasis at Oxford was history. He received a government scholarship to help defray his expenses. Following graduation, he began to write quite seriously. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1951, he came to the United States and taught English at Ohio State University from 1952 to 1953. He received his master’s degree from Oxford in 1953.
In 1953, Bowen became an assistant editor of Sketch magazine and became senior editor in 1955. His first novel, The Truth Will Not Help Us, was published in 1956 to favorable reviews. He resigned from Sketch and became a copywriter for an advertising agency. Publishing two more novels in the next three years, he left his post as copy chief at the agency to concentrate on his writing.
Attracted by the possibility of writing for television, he next became a script consultant for Associated Television and regularly wrote television plays, producing more than twenty before 1980. His aim was to produce serious, thought-provoking teleplays dealing with challenging topics. Typical was A Holiday Abroad (1962) in which the protagonist, Tom, a schoolboy from humble circumstances, receives an invitation from a classmate to spend a holiday with him in his family’s lavish home in Europe. His week there makes Tom realize the bleakness of his own existence and causes him to blame his widowed mother for letting him go. It is finally revealed that the only reason he received an invitation was that his classmate’s father wished to hide an expensive diamond necklace in Tom’s suitcase to get it through customs easily. This sort of duplicity permeates many of Bowen’s plays for television.
Bowen began as a realistic writer. As his writing progressed, however, he moved from realism increasingly toward expressionism, much influenced by dramatists like Bertolt Brecht and Peter Weiss. His most successful stage plays were an adaptation of his heralded novel, After the Rain, produced in 1966, and The Disorderly Women, a modernization of The Bacchae by Euripides, produced in 1969. Bowen has continued to produced stage plays and television plays. He notes that the television plays give him the wherewithal to write his experimental dramas, which veered more toward realism.
Bowen wrote several works in the 1980s and 1990s. These include the plays Spot the Lady (1981), The Oak Tree Tea-Room Siege (1990), and Cold Salmon (1998); and the novels The McGuffin (1984), The Girls (1986), Fighting Back (1989), The Precious Gift (1992), and No Retreat (1994).
Bibliography
Bowen, John Griffith. n.p.: Oxford UP, 2013. Oxford’s Who’s Who & Who Was Who. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
“BOWEN, John [Griffith].” Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature (2003): 108. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
Gindin, James. “The Fable Breaks Down.” Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature 8.7 (1967): n. pag. Print.
Gindin, James. Postwar British Fiction: New Accents and Attitudes. 1962. N.p.: Cambridge UP, 2016.
“The Girls.” Magill’s Book Reviews (1986): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
“John Bowen.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1 June 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.