Felicity Anne Bryan (16 October 1945 – 21 June 2020) was a British literary agent, the founder of Felicity Bryan Associates based in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. She co-founded ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''s Laurence Stern Fellowship. It was announced in June 2020 that the Fellowship was being renamed in her honour as the Stern-Bryan Fellowship.

Biography

Early years and education

Bryan, the second of three daughters of

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, a Conservative MP, and Betty (Hoyle) Bryan, was born in Sowerby Bridge,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. One of her sisters was Elizabeth Bryan, a paediatrician She took a degree in History of Art at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

Journalism

From 1968 to 1970, she worked with Joe Rogaly on the ''

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'' in

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. She then returned to London to write for the American Survey of ''

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''. From 1975 to 1979 she wrote the weekly Gardening Column for the London ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

''. She contributed articles to UK newspapers. In 1980, with Godfrey Hodgson and Benjamin Bradlee, she founded the Laurence Stern fellowship in memory of her friend Larry Stern. Every year it sends a young British journalist to work on ''

''. Alumni include

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and

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Literary agency

In 1973, Bryan joined the London literary agency

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, where she remained for 15 years. By 1988, she had moved with her family to Oxford, saw it as an ideal place for a literary agency and started Felicity Bryan Ltd. She represented major international authors, including

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and

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. By 2010, the agency had expanded and underwent a management buyout, with her colleagues Catherine Clarke and Caroline Wood becoming co-owners of the newly formed Felicity Bryan Associates Ltd. On 9 June 2020, Bryan announced her intention to retire from Felicity Bryan Associates, citing ill health.

Awards

In 2010, Bryan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

for her work in publishing. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to publishing.

Other activities

Bryan was a trustee of Equilibrium - The Bipolar Foundation. Passionate about ballet and opera, she represented the dancer

Carlos Acosta Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada (born 2 June 1973) is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies, including the English National Ballet, National Ballet o ...

for his memoir and writings. She was a Patron of the Woodstock Literary Festival and a Sponsor of the Oxford Literary Festival.

Personal life

She was married to the economist Alex Duncan of The Policy Practice and lived near Oxford. They had three children: Alice Mary Duncan (born June 1982, died November 2004), Maxim Paul Duncan (born October 1983) and Benjamin Patrick Duncan (born May 1987). She was, earlier, married to

Alasdair Clayre Alasdair George Stuart Clayre (9 October 1935 – 10 January 1984) was a British author, broadcaster, singer-songwriter, and academic. Early life and career Clayre was born in Southampton, Hampshire on 9 October 1935. He won a scholarship to ...

. Her elder sister, Dr Elizabeth Bryan, founder of The Multiple Births Foundation, died in 2008. Her younger sister Bernadette Hingley, who was one of the first British women to be ordained as a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, died in 1995. Bryan died of cancer on 21 June 2020, aged 74.

Publications

*''The Town Gardener’s Companion'' (Andre Deutsch/ Penguin) *''A Garden for Children'' (Michael Joseph) *''Nursery Style'' - with Annie Sloan (Viking) *"Once we had a Daughter" (''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Felicity 1945 births 2020 deaths 20th-century British journalists 20th-century British women writers 20th-century English people 20th-century English women English women journalists British literary agents Members of the Order of the British Empire