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Rayner Heppenstall

Rayner Heppenstall

Writer

Born July 27, 1911 in Lockwood, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK

Died May 23, 1981

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Biography

Rayner Heppenstall was born in Huddersfield in 1911 and educated at Leeds University, studying English and French. Moving to London in the 1930s, he became a journalist and poet, writing for T. S. Eliot's 'The Criterion' and befriending Dylan Thomas, Herbert Read, Eric Gill and many other literary figures.

His most famous friendship was with George Orwell - Heppenstall wrote in his 'Four Absentees' of his drunken fight with Orwell, with whom he was living at the time.

Heppenstall made an impression with his novel 'The Blaze of Noon' (1939) about a blind masseur and his sexual relations. Influenced by D. H. Lawrence and Henry Miller, it caused a stir both for its heightened sensuality and its style, which in some ways anticipated the French nouveau roman.

While fighting in World War II, Heppenstall wrote Saturnine (1943) and The Lesser Infortune (1953) before being appointed head of BBC Radio's Third Programme after being demobilised. He resurfaced during the 1960s with his novel 'Connecting Door', a mysterious piece clearly influenced by Alain Robbe-Grillet and Nathalie Sarraute. 'The Woodshed' followed (both 1962) and Heppenstall became influential on a new generation of British avant-garde novelists headed by B. S. Johnson.

A film comnpany took out an option on 'The Shearers' (1969) - Heppenstall wrote in his journal, "I shall receive a modest cheque, and that will be the last I shall hear about it". It was, and Heppenstall is best known today for his contretemps with Orwell. He died in 1981 after writing two more novels, 'Two Moons' and 'The Pier'.

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Thirty-Minute Theatre Poster

Thirty-Minute Theatre TV Series1965

Leviathan TV Movie1939

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