Amy Irene Byers (''née'' Cookson; 7 June 1906 – 11 February 1992) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

novelist, poet and

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

who wrote around forty books mostly published in the 1950s and 1960s.

Life

Byers was born in London, the daughter of William Barry Byers, a fishmonger from York, and his wife, Amy Martin.''1911 England Census'' In her early career Byers worked as a freelance journalist specialising in interviews with famous people such as

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

and

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...

.''To Exercise Our Talents: The Democratization of Writing in Britain''
Christopher Hilliard, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (2009), . Byers gave up her career on marriage, around 1930, to Cyril Byers, but took up writing again after her children were at school. She also wrote poems for her children during the war. She was a regular contributor to the

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's ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' and two of her books were serialised on ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

''. She also became an active member of the Croydon Writers' Circle. The circle provided support for her writing which was important as praise from her husband was rare.

Works

Many of Byers' works were written for children, including books on nature study. ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic Church, Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by ...

'' reviewed Byers' ''The Young Brevingtons'' (1953): Her 1954 book ''Tim of Tamberly Forest'' was broadcast as "a serial play in four episodes" on BBC radio's ''

'' in 1955. The original novel was reviewed by ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'': Her book ''Jewel of the Jungle'' was broadcast on ''Children's Hour'' in July 1956.

Bibliography

* ''The Circus, and other verses for children'', illus. Donald Craig (1946) * ''Our Outdoor Friends'' (1949-1952) * ''Mystery at Barber's Reach'', illus., A. E. Batchelor (1950) * ''The Adventures of the Floating Flat'', illus. Robert Johnston (1952) * ''The First

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Book of Our Outdoor Friends'', illus. Constance Marshall (1952) * ''The Young Brevingtons'' (1953) * ''Tim of Tamberly Forest'' (1954) * ''Out and about Tales'', illus. Paxton Chadwick (1954) * ''The Mystery of Midway Mill'' (1955) * ''Catherine of Connors'' (1955) * ''Adventure at Fairborough's Farm'' (1955) * ''Adventure at Dillington Dene'' (1956) * ''The Strange Story of Pippin Wood'', illus. Mary Shillabeer (1956) * ''The Sign of the Dolphin'' (1956) * ''The Missing Masterpiece'' (1957) * ''Jewel of the Jungle'' (1957) * ''Adventure at the Blue Cockatoo'' (1958) * ''Flowers for Melissa'' (1958) * ''Kennel Maid Sally'' (1960) * ''The Adventure road to reading, etc.'' (1961) * ''Farm on the Fjord'' (1961) * ''Tim returns to Tamberly'' (1962) * ''Silka the Seal'', illus.

George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a British wildlife conservationist and author based in Kenya. His wife Joy Adamson related in h ...

(1962) * ''Two on the Trail'', illus. Joseph Acheson (1963) * ''Foresters of Fourways'', illus. Barry Gurbutt (1963) * ''Joanna joins the Zoo'', illus. Jillian Willett (1964) * ''Trouble at Tamberly'' (1964) * ''The Merediths of Mappins'', illus.

Victor Ambrus Victor Ambrus (born László Győző Ambrus, 19 August 1935 – 10 February 2021) was a Hungarian-born British illustrator of history, folk tales, and animal story books. He also became known from his appearances on the Channel 4 television ...

(1964); US edition: ''The Mystery at Mappins'', illus. Victor Ambrus (New York:

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjori ...

, 1964) * ''Magic in her Fingers'', illus. Jillian Willett (1965) * ''Half-day Thursday'' (1966) * ''Foresters afield'', illus. Michael Whittlesea (1966) * ''Danny finds a family'', illus. Sheila Bewley (1966) * ''The House of the Speckled Browns'', illus.

(1967) * ''The stage under the cedars'', illus. Michael Charlton (1969) * ''Cameras on Carolyn'', illus. Michael Charlton (1971) * ''Timothy and Tiptoes'', illus. Lynette Hemmant (1974) * ''Tiptoes wins through'', illus. Lynette Hemmant (1976) * ''Tiptoes and the big race'', illus. Lynette Hemmant (1979) * ''Fox on the pavement'', illus. Gabrielle Stoddart (1984) * ''Rhymes and reveries'' (1989) * ''Rhymes and remembrances'' (c1990)

Translations

Irene Byers' books have been translated into several languages, among them Dutch, German, Italian, Portuguese and Swedish. * ''Het geheim van de boerderij'', transl. by A. M. van Steyn-Dingjan of ''Adventure at Fairborough's Farm''. Utrecht

Het Spectrum, 1957 * ''Penny zoekt de dader'', transl. by J. Meyknecht-Grossouw. Helmond: Helmond, c. 1958 * ''De gevaarlijke bloem uit het oerwoud'', transl. by Evelien van Amstel of ''Jewel of the Jungle''. Utrecht

Het Spectrum, 1958 * ''Bloemen voor Melissa'', transl. by J. Meyknecht-Grossouw of ''Flowers for Melissa''. Helmond: Helmond, 1960 * ''De rit in de nacht'', transl. by E. La Haye of ''The Strange Story of Pippin Wood'', illus. by Mary Shillabeer. Utrecht

Het Spectrum, 1961 * ''Avontuur op een woonboot'', transl. by A. M. van Steyn-Dingjan of ''The Adventure of the Floating Flat''. Haarlem: De Spaarnestad; Antwerpen: Tijdschriften Uitgevers Mij, 1964 * ''Silka, der Seehund'', transl. by Christa Laufs of ''Silka the Seal'', illus. by Franz Josef Tripp. Stuttgart: Herold Verlag, 1969 * ''Jenny und lauter Tiere: Ein Mädchen im Zoo'', transl. by Gisela Sieber of ''Joanna Joins the Zoo''. Stuttgart: Herold Verlag, 1967 * ''Il ciondolo rapito'' Turin: SAIE, 1959 * ''Três diabretes'', transl. by Fernanda Pinto Rodrigues, illus. by

. Lisbon: Editorial Minerva, 1967 * ''Kennelflickan'', transl. by Gunvor Håkansson of ''Kennel Maid Sally''. Stockholm: Lindqvist, 1962 * ''Familjen på Mappins'', transl. by Gunvor Håkansson. Stockholm: Lindqvist, 1965 * ''Juvelkuppen'', transl. by Gunvor Håkansson of ''Two on the Trail''. Stockholm: B. Wahlström, 1973

Notes

External links

Works by Irene Byers
in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byers, Irene 1906 births 1992 deaths English women writers English children's writers Writers from London