Who was E.M. Forster?
E.M. Forster was novelist famous for "Howards's
End" and "A Room with a View".
Date and Place of Birth:
1st January 1879, 6 Melcombe Place, Dorset Square,
London NW1, England (Building no longer exists). Christened Edward
Morgan Forster.
Family Background:
Forster was the only child of an Architect, Edward
Morgan Llewellyn Forster and Mother Alice Clara,known as Lily, nee
Whichelo.
Education:
Tonbridge School, Kent as a day boy. Studied
Classics and History at Kings College, Cambridge where he was influenced
by the philosopher G.E. Moore.
Chronology/Biography of E.M. Forster:
1880: Father died
of tuberculosis on 30 October.
1887: E.M. Forster
inherited £8,000 from his paternal great-aunt Marianne Thornton.
She was the daughter of the abolitionist Henry Thornton. The money
was enough for him to live on and thus become a writer in later
years.
1893: He spent his
early life at a house in Hertfordshire called "Rooksnest".
This would later prove the inspiration for the house in his novel
"Howards End".
1897: At Kings College
Cambridge he became a member of a discussion group known as the
Cambridge Conversazione Society (later the Apostles). This consisted
of many people who were to go on to be known as the Bloomsbury Group.
The Chapel of Kings College, Cambridge which Forster would have
visited
(© Anthony Blagg)
1901: After University
E.M. Forster traveled extensively on the Continent with his mother
and began to write seriously.
1902: E.M. Forster
taught at the Working Men’s College and Cambridge Local Lectures
Board (extra-mural department).
1904: Began contributing
short stories to the "Independent Review".
1905: Publication
of the novel "Where Angels Fear to Tread".
1907: E.M. Forster
became a private tutor. Forster became a member of the Bloomsbury
Group and a good friend of Virginia Woolf,
Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, and Roger Fry.
1910: Publication
of "Howard’s End" which was his first major public
success.
1912: Extensive visit
to India and began writing "A Passage to India".
1913: E.M. Forster
began writing "Maurice", a novel about homosexual love.
This was not published until after his death due to its controversial
nature.
1914: Visited Egypt,
Germany and India with the Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson. Became a
conscientious objector on the outbreak of the First World War.
1915: Worked for
the Red Cross in Alexandria.
1919: E.M. Forster
returned to England.
1921: Visited India
for the second time. Became the private secretary of Tukojirao III
the Maharajah of Dewas.
1924: "A Passage
to India" received good reviews. Decided to give up writing
novels because he could not write about sexual relations honestly
and openly.
1927: Elected Fellow
of King’s College, Cambridge. Gave the Clark lectures which
were then published as "Aspects of the Novel".
1934: Became the
First president of the National Council for Civil Liberties.
1945: Death of his
mother. Elected Honorary Fellow at King’s College, Cambridge
and lived in College from then on.
1947: Toured the
United States to give lectures.
1953: E.M. Forster
awarded the Member of the Order of Companions of Honour by the Queen.
1969: Awarded the
Order of Merit on his ninetieth birthday.
1970: Died in the
home of his good friends Bob and May Buckingham of Coventry after
experiencing failing health and several strokes.
Written Works:
- 1905:
"Where Angels Fear to Tread".
- 1907:
"The Longest Journey".
- 1908:
"A Room With a View".
- 1911: The Celestial Omnibus (and other stories)
Short stories
- 1912:
"Howard's End".
- 1911:
"Celestial Omnibus".
- 1924:
"A Passage to India".
- 1927:
"Aspects of the Novel".
- 1928: "The
Eternal Moment" short stories.
- 1934: "Abinger
Pageant", Plays and pageants.
- 1936:
"Abinger Harvest",a collection of his essays and reviews.
- 1940: "England's
Pleasant Land", Plays and pageants.
- 1945: "A
Diary for Timothy", film scripts.
- 1947: "Collected
Short Stories".
- 1951:
"Two Cheers for Democracy". "Billy Budd" Libretto
for the opera by Benjamin Britten (based
on Herman Melville's novel).
- (1971):
"Maurice". (written in 1913–14)
- (1972): "The
Life to Come and other stories".
- (2003): "Arctic
Summer" (a fragment written in 1912–13)
Marriage:
Never married as homosexual.
Date and Place of Death:
7th June 1970, at the house of Bob and May Buckingham,
Coventry, West Midlands, England.
Age at Death:
91.
Site of Grave:
Cremated with no religious ceremony, Coventry,
England. Ashes scattered over the Buckingham's rose garden.
Places of Interest:
SURREY:
Pine Copse, Abinger Hammer. (home).
