Leland Bardwell

Constan Olive Leland Bardwell (25 February 1922 - 28 June 2016) was an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright.

Life
Bardwell was born in India to Irish parents John Hone and Mary Collise, and moved to Ireland at the age of 2. Her father's family were of the Anglo-Irish Hone family.

Bardwell grew up in Leixlip, County Kildare. She was educated at Alexandra School and later at the University of London.

Bardwell lived in Sligo and was a member of Aosdána. Her son is the composer John McLachlan.

Writing
She is considered an important poet by her contemporaries. On the publication of Bardwell's 4th collection of poetry, The White Beach, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain stated "it is good to see her work of the decades collected – it has inspired many Irish poets, male and female, and should be much more widely known", adding that her work was "witty, full of sharp intimate honesty, full of truth and surprises."

Publications
Poetry
 * The Mad Cyclist [New Writers' Press, 1970]
 * The Fly and the Bed Bug [Beaver Row Press, 1984]
 * Dostoevsky's Grave: Selected poems. Dublin: Dedalus, 1991.
 * The White Beach: New and Selected Poems, 1960-1998 Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare: Salmon Publishing, 1998.

Prose Bardwell has published four novels:
 * Girl on a Bicycle. Dublin: Irish Writers Co-operative, 1977.
 * That London Winter [Co-op Books, 1981]
 * The House [Brandon, 1984]
 * There We Have Been [Attic Press, 1989]

Short fiction

 * Different Kinds of Love: Stories. Dublin: Attic Press, 1987; Dublin: Dedalus Press, 2011.

Non-fiction

 * A Restless Life (memoir). Dublin: Liberties Press, 2008.

Plays Bardwell's plays have been produced by RTÉ and BBC.

Editor
In 1975, she co-founded the long running literary magazine Cyphers.