Lavinia Derwent
{{Short description|Scottish author and broadcaster}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
|birth_name = Elizabeth Dodd
|image = Lavinia_Derwent_of_Jedburgh.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption =
|pseudonym = Lavinia Derwent
|birth_date = 1909
|birth_place = Cheviot Hills, Scotland
|death_date = 1989
|occupation = Writer and broadcaster
|nationality = British
|genre = Children's fiction, adult fiction
|notableworks = The Sula quartet
|spouse =
|children =
}}
Lavinia Derwent was the pen name of the Scottish author and broadcaster Elizabeth Dodd MBE (1909–1989).{{Cite web |url=http://www.jedburgh.org.uk/famous-people-lavinia-derwent |title=Lavinia Derwent – 1909 – 1989 |work=Jedburgh Historic Town |date=2012 |accessdate=23 July 2016}}
Life
She was born in an isolated farmhouse in the Cheviot Hills, seven miles from Jedburgh and began making up stories about animals at an early age. She wrote a version of Greyfriars Bobby. Her autobiographical books include her Border and Manse series. Border Bairn is set around Jedburgh, while Lady of the Manse has a Berwickshire setting. Derwent's Manse books drew on her experiences keeping house for her Church of Scotland minister brother.{{Cite web |url=http://www.scotlitlocations.com/scottish-borders/author/elizabeth-dodd/ |title=Elizabeth Dodd (Lavinia Derwent) |work=Scottish Literary Locations |date=2009 |accessdate=23 July 2016}}[https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/74090 Moira Burgess: "Dodd, Elizabeth (pseud. Lavinia Derwent)", ODNB (Oxford, UK, 2005). Retrieved 23 February 2020.]
Broadcasting
Derwent's first successes were her Tammy Troot stories, which were read out in the 1920s on Auntie Kathleen's Children's Hour on Scottish Radio.{{Cite web |url=http://booksfromscotland.com/bfs-author/lavinia-derwent/ |title=Lavinia Derwent |work=Books from Scotland – The Best of Scottish Books |date=2016 |accessdate=23 July 2016}} The first of the books was published in 1947. They were still being reprinted in the 1970s, when Derwent, alternating with Molly Weir and Cliff Hanley, co-presented the series Teatime Tales on the STV (TV network), recalling stories taken from her own childhood.
The Sula books
Derwent books about a fictional island called Sula later featured in BBC's Jackanory, read by John Cairney.{{Cite web |title=Radio Times 1923 – 2009 |publisher=BBC |date=2016 |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1974-05-07 |accessdate=21 July 2016}} These were also made into a television series.
The original novels were: Sula,{{Cite book |last1=Derwent |first1=Lavinia |title=Sula |publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd |date=1969 |isbn=0862410681}} Return to Sula,{{Cite book |last1=Derwent |first1=Lavinia |title=Return to Sula |publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd |date=1971 |isbn=0862410738}} The Boy From Sula{{Cite book |last1=Derwent |first1=Lavinia |title=The Boy from Sula |publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd |date=1973 |isbn=9780863154003}} and Song of Sula.{{Cite book |last1=Derwent |first1=Lavinia |title=Song of Sula |publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd |date=1976 |isbn=9780863154386}}
Bibliography
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
- ”My Own Book of Birds” (1937)
- Tammy Troot (1947)
- Tammy Troot's Capers (1947)
- Huffy Puffy the little red engine (1951)
- Macpherson (1961)
- Further Adventures of Tammy Troot (1975)
- Sula (1969)
- Return to Sula (1971)
- The Boy from Sula (1973)
- Song of Sula (1976)
- Macpherson's Island (1970)
- Macpherson's Skyscraper (1978)
- A Breath of Border Air (1977)
- Another Breath of Border Air (1978)
- God Bless the Borders (1981)
- A Border Bairn (1980)
- Beyond the Borders (1989)
- The Tale of Greyfriars Bobby (1985)
- The Lady of the Manse (1985)
- A Mouse in the Manse (1987)
{{Div col end}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
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Category:People from the Scottish Borders
Category:Scottish children's writers
Category:Scottish television presenters
Category:Scottish women television presenters
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Writers from the Scottish Borders
Category:Scottish women writers
Category:Scottish women novelists
Category:British women children's writers