Bart Kennedy (1861–1930) was an English novelist, memoirist and journalist.

Biography

Kennedy was born in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

of Irish parents. From the age of 6 until about the age of 20 he worked in cotton mills and machine shops in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. At age 20 he left England, working as a deckhand on a cargo ship which landed him in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Illiterate and with no money or formal training, he used the force of his strength (and fist) to "

tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

" his way westward across North America. He worked at various laboring jobs including as an oysterman on a skipjack on the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

; a miner in New York; building railroad sheds in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

; and panning for gold in the Klondike. He eventually ended up in California where he had various jobs in the theater, including as a singer and actor, before returning to England, where in October 1897 he married Isabel Priestley, a political activist.

Writing career

Kennedy published his first novel, ''Darab's Wine Cup'', in 1897, followed by ''The Wandering Romanoff'' (1898). A fair amount of autobiography is contained in ''A Man Adrift'' (1899), ''A Sailor Tramp'' (1902) and ''A Tramp in Spain'' (1904), books about his "tramping" exploits around the world. John Sutherland (1989) says "As an author, he is one of the early advocates of '

ing', as the source of literary inspiration." Kennedy also wrote articles for magazines such as ''

The New Age ''The New Age'' was a British weekly magazine (1894–1938),credited as a major influence on literature and the arts during its heyday from 1907 to 1922, when it was edited by Alfred Richard Orage. It published work by many of the chief politi ...

''.

Published works

*''Darab's Wine Cup'' (1897) *''The Wandering Romanoff'' (1898) *''A Man Adrift'' (1899) *''A Sailor Tramp'' (1902) *''A Tramp in Spain'' (1904) *''Slavery'' (1905) *''The Green Sphinx'' (1905) *''A Tramp Camp'' (1906) *''The German Danger'' (1907) *''Soldiers of Labour'' (1917) *''Golden Green'' (1926)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Bart 1861 births 1930 deaths English male journalists 20th-century English novelists English male novelists 20th-century English male writers