Michael Field
-
As
, Katharine Harris Bradley and Edith Cooper published twenty-seven tragedies, mostly verse dramas on historical or classical subjects. Only one of their plays was staged, and it received poor reviews. Their unique literary collaboration also produced eight collections of poetry, one of which pays tribute to
. Selections from their journal and letters appeared posthumously. Their Greek paganism influenced their earliest works, while their conversion to Roman Catholicism left its mark on later ones. Although
's work fell out of favour with most readers and critics early in her career, this collaborative oeuvre has enjoyed a recent renaissance.
oii_image_credit
Biography
Both women had many nicknames. In letters between themselves Cooper was Pussycat, or the Persian Puss, or P., while Bradley was Simiorg, or All-Wise-Fowl, or AWF. The nicknames by which they were generally known were Michael and Henry. Katharine took the name Michael. Edith adopted Henry after her hair was cut short during her recovery from scarlet fever. They used these names to refer to each other and among their intimates.
An analogous case of a shared pseudonym is that of the twentieth-century American detective-story writer Emma Lathen, also the writing name of two women,
and
. The Feminist Companion says that these two won satisfied complicity from critics, who speak of the fictional EL as one, real person.