Jehane Markham (1949–2024) was an English poet, librettist and dramatist.

Early life

Markham was born in 1949 near the village of

Forest Row Forest Row is a village and a large civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-east of East Grinstead. In January 2023, it ranked as Britain’s 3rd poshest village. His ...

, East Sussex and grew up on a smallholding on the edge of

Ashdown Forest Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald National Landscape. It is situated south of London in the county East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation of above sea level, its ...

. Markham was the youngest of four sisters: Sonia Markham and actors

Kika Markham Erika S.L. "Kika" Markham (born 1940)''birth registered 4th quarter (Oct, Nov, Dec) 1940'' is an English actress. Early life Markham is a daughter of actor David Markham and writer Olive Dehn (1914–2007). She has three sisters, including Pet ...

and

Petra Markham Petra Mavis Markham (born 17 March 1944) is a British theatre, television and film actress. Biography Born on 17 March 1944, she is a daughter of actor David Markham and writer Olive Dehn (1914–2007). She had three sisters: actress Kika ...

. Her parents were poet and children's author Olive Dehn and actor

David Markham David Markham (3 April 1913 – 15 December 1983) was an English stage and film actor for over forty years. Markham was born Peter Basil Harrison in Wick, Worcestershire and died in Hartfield, East Sussex. In 1937 he married Olive Dehn (1 ...

. Until age eight, Markham was home-schooled. She then attended Burgess Hill boarding school in Hampstead, followed by Town and Country school in Swiss Cottage, and then

Camden School for Girls The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialis ...

. Markham went studied at the Central School of Art.

Career

Markham began her career writing for radio, stage and television. Her work included adaptations of classics such as '' The Bell Jar'' by

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...

and '' Frost in May'' by Antonia White, as well as original plays, ''Thanksgiving'', ''More Cherry Cake'', and ''Nina'', which became a

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Her plays with songs for fringe theatre included ''One White Day'', ''The Birth of Pleasure and Hermes'', working with

Orlando Gough Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh ...

and Pete Letanka. She wrote the libretto for several fringe musicals. Her children's opera ''On the Rim of the World'' was composed for the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

. Her last community opera was performed at Leiston House in 1997 - she wrote the book and lyrics for ''The Six Swans'', a musical adaptation of two fairy tales by

The Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of folktales, popularizing stories such as " Cin ...

, for the Wonderful Beast Theatre Company, and ''Hermes'' which was staged by the Rosemary Branch theatre in 2006. As a poet, she published five collections, including ''Forty Poems'' (Dreams, Dances & Disappointments, 2022), and previously ''Thirty Poems'' (Rough Winds Productions, 2004), ''Twenty Poems'' (Rough Winds Productions, 1999), ''Ten Poems'' (Redstone Press, 1993), and ''The Captain's Death'' (Soul, 1974), as well as an audio collection ''My Mother Myself'', with her mother the poet Olive Dehn (Rough Winds Productions, 2001). Markham performed as part of the Jehane Markham Trio which she formed in 2004 and which performed for ten years, with pianist Robin Phillips and double bassist Graeme Howell, later replaced by double bassist Jonny Gee, and sometimes joined by cellist Natalie Rozario. They made two albums, ''The London Series'' and ''Vladivostok to Moscow'' and performed at poetry venues and arts festivals in London and across the country. She was poet in residence at Camden New Journal.

Personal life

Markham married actor

Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was a British actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in ''The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later star ...

. They had three sons, Sevan, Hartley and Louis, and six grandchildren. After Lloyd-Pack's death in 2014, she and her sons Hartley and Louis made a collaborative album of words and music, ''Sixteen Sunsets''. Markham died in 2024 at age 75.

Select publications

* ''The Captain's Death'', Soul 1974 (ISBN 05033880X) * ''Ten Poems'', Redstone Press 1993 * ''Twenty Poems'', Rough Winds Productions 1999 (ISBN 0-9536583-1-7) * ''Thirty Poems'', Rough Winds Productions 2004 (ISBN 0-9536583-6-8) * ''Forty Poems'', Dances, Dreams and Disappointments 2022 (ISBN 978-1399918787)

Audio

* ''My Mother Myself'' – audio tape of Jehane Markham and Olive Dehn reading their work, Rough Winds Productions, 2001 (ISBN 0-9536583-4-1)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:markham, jehane 1949 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English poets 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English poets 21st-century English women writers Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design English librettists English people of German-Jewish descent English women dramatists and playwrights English women poets People educated at Camden School for Girls People from Forest Row Writers from Sussex