Morgan, Charles, 1894-1958

English author.

Charles Morgan was an English author and literary critic. After publishing an early novel, he joined the London Times, where he later became theater critic. He served in both World Wars, and his essays, Menander's Mirror, were distributed in occupied France in World War II. He published numerous novels and several plays, as well as essays and criticism. A serious craftsman and conscientious stylist, the traditional values that made him popular in his day have not won him a contemporary audience.

British writer Charles Langbridge Morgan wrote several plays, eleven novels, and numerous essays.

Charles Langbridge Morgan was born on January 22, 1894, in Bromley, Kent. He was a cadet in the Royal Navy and later attended naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. From 1911-1913 he served in the Atlantic and China before resigning to pursue a literary career. However, at the outbreak of World War I Morgan volunteered for re-enlistment in the Royal Navy, joining the Naval Brigade forces at Antwerp. In the fall of 1914 Morgan was taken prisoner in Holland, where during his internment Morgan began writing his first novel, The Gunroom (1919) in which he was critical of the British Navy. Morgan again volunteered for service during World War II, and he served in the British Admiralty from 1939-1944.

After studying at Oxford, beginning in 1921 Morgan worked as a drama critic for The Times of London . In 1926 he became the paper’s principal drama critic, a post he held until 1939.

In the 1930s and 1940s, when Morgan’s success as a writer was at its peak, he won three important literary prizes for his novels: the Prix Fémina-Vie Heureuse (1929); the Hawthornden Prize (1932); and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1940).

Morgan was one of the few foreigners to become an Académicien in the Institut de France. He also received honorary doctorates from St. Andrews University (LL.D., 1947), Université de Caen (1948), and Université de Toulouse (1948). Morgan died in London, on February 6, 1958.

Edith Koch, a resident of Berlin, Germany, initially wrote to Charles Morgan regarding her potential translation of his 1932 novel The Fountain .

Morgan, Charles. Selected Letters. Ed. Eiluned Lewis. London: Macmillan, 1967. "Charles Morgan." Contemporary Authors Online (reproduced in Biography Resource Center). http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed July 2011). Information regarding Edith Koch was derived from the letters.

British writer Charles Langbridge Morgan wrote several plays, eleven novels, and numerous essays.

Charles Langbridge Morgan was born on January 22, 1894, in Bromley, Kent. He was a cadet in the Royal Navy and later attended naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. From 1911-1913 he served in the Atlantic and China before resigning to pursue a literary career. However, at the outbreak of World War I Morgan volunteered for reenlistment in the Royal Navy, joining the Naval Brigade forces at Antwerp. In the fall of 1914 Morgan was taken prisoner in Holland, where during his internment Morgan began writing his first novel, The Gunroom (1919) in which he was critical of the British Navy. Though critical of the Royal Navy, Morgan again volunteered for service during World War II, and he served in the British Admiralty from 1939-1944.

After studying at Oxford, beginning in 1921 Morgan worked as a drama critic for The Times of London. In 1926 he became the paper’s principal drama critic, a post he held until 1939.

In the 1930s and 1940s, when Morgan’s success as a writer was at its peak, he won three important literary prizes for his novels: the Prix Fémina-Vie Heureuse (1929); the Hawthornden Prize (1932); and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1940).

Morgan was one of the few foreigners to become an Académicien in the Institut de France. He also received honorary doctorates from St. Andrews University (LL.D., 1947), Université de Caen (1948), and Université de Toulouse (1948). Morgan died in London, on February 6, 1958.

Morgan, Charles. Selected Letters. Ed. Eiluned Lewis. London: Macmillan, 1967. "Charles Morgan." Contemporary Authors Online(reproduced in Biography Resource Center). http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed November 2009)

British writer Charles Langbridge Morgan wrote several plays, eleven novels, and numerous essays.

Charles Langbridge Morgan was born on January 22, 1894, in Bromley, Kent. He was a cadet in the Royal Navy and later attended naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. From 1911-1913 he served in the Atlantic and China before resigning to pursue a literary career. However, at the outbreak of World War I Morgan volunteered for re-enlistment in the Royal Navy, joining the Naval Brigade forces at Antwerp. In the fall of 1914 Morgan was taken prisoner in Holland, where during his internment Morgan began writing his first novel, The Gunroom (1919) in which he was critical of the British Navy. Morgan again volunteered for service during World War II, and he served in the British Admiralty from 1939-1944.

After studying at Oxford, beginning in 1921 Morgan worked as a drama critic for The Times of London . In 1926 he became the paper’s principal drama critic, a post he held until 1939.

In the 1930s and 1940s, when Morgan’s success as a writer was at its peak, he won three important literary prizes for his novels: the Prix Fémina-Vie Heureuse (1929); the Hawthornden Prize (1932); and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1940).

Morgan was one of the few foreigners to become an Académicien in the Institut de France. He also received honorary doctorates from St. Andrews University (LL.D., 1947), Université de Caen (1948), and Université de Toulouse (1948). Morgan died in London, on February 6, 1958.

Morgan, Charles. Selected Letters. Ed. Eiluned Lewis. London: Macmillan, 1967. "Charles Morgan." Contemporary Authors Online (reproduced in Biography Resource Center). http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed July 2011).

British writer Charles Langbridge Morgan wrote several plays, eleven novels, and numerous essays.

Charles Langbridge Morgan was born on January 22, 1894, in Bromley, Kent. He was a cadet in the Royal Navy and later attended naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. From 1911-1913 he served in the Atlantic and China before resigning to pursue a literary career. However, at the outbreak of World War I Morgan volunteered for reenlistment in the Royal Navy, joining the Naval Brigade forces at Antwerp. In the fall of 1914 Morgan was taken prisoner in Holland, where during his internment Morgan began writing his first novel, The Gunroom (1919) in which he was critical of the British Navy. Though critical of the Royal Navy, Morgan again volunteered for service during World War II, and he served in the British Admiralty from 1939-1944.

After studying at Oxford, beginning in 1921 Morgan worked as a drama critic for The Times of London . In 1926 he became the paper’s principal drama critic, a post he held until 1939.

In the 1930s and 1940s, when Morgan’s success as a writer was at its peak, he won three important literary prizes for his novels: the Prix Fémina-Vie Heureuse (1929); the Hawthornden Prize (1932); and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1940).

Morgan was one of the few foreigners to become an Académicien in the Institut de France. He also received honorary doctorates from St. Andrews University (LL.D., 1947), Université de Caen (1948), and Université de Toulouse (1948). Morgan died in London, on February 6, 1958.

Morgan, Charles. Selected Letters. Ed. Eiluned Lewis. London: Macmillan, 1967. "Charles Morgan." Contemporary Authors Online (reproduced in Biography Resource Center). http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed June 2011).