Brian Burland

Brian Burland (23 April 1931 – 11 February 2010) was a Bermudian writer, who was the author of nine acclaimed novels that typically dealt with colonialism, family strife and race. Burland was the first Bermudian novelist to receive international acclaim. His was a privileged family background, but from an early age Brian was very conscious of Bermuda's racial inequalities and empathised with black Bermudians: "An important figure in his early life was Sarah Hinson, his black Bermudian nanny who... appears in his novel The Flight of the Cavalier as a heroic figure. Burland's family honoured his request to be buried next to her at St. Paul's Church, Paget." His experiences on the ship crossing the Atlantic crossing during World War II would be evoked in his early novel A Fall from Aloft.

Critical reception Burland's novels were generally well reviewed in publications including The Observer, The Times Literary Supplement, The Times in London, the New Statesman and The New York Times, being praised by the likes of novelist Anthony Burgess, playwright David Rabe and actor Sir Ralph Richardson.

Personal life Burland was married and divorced three times: to Charlotte Ann "Gale" Burland (with whom he had three children: Susan, Anne and William), to Edwina Trentham (mother of his son Benjamin) and finally to Ishbel Gibb Lee. He was the first Bermudian to convert to the Baháʼí Faith, in 1949,

Burland suffered from Huntington's disease in his later life and spent his last years at Westmeath Nursing Home and finally at Sylvia Richardson Care Facility. He died on 11 February 2010 at the age of 78.

Recognition, awards and legacy In 1994, Burland received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bermuda Arts Council.

In 2001, the Bermudian government's Department of Community and Cultural Affairs established the Bermuda Literary Awards, and Burland won the Founder's Award and the prize for Children's and Young Adult Fiction. In 2007, the fiction award was renamed the Brian Burland Prize for Fiction. where on 9 May 2013 the Brian Burland Centre for Research was formally opened. Dedicated to preserving and promoting his works and as well as to encouraging aspiring Bermudian writers, the Centre features a specially commissioned mural by leading Bermudian artist Graham Foster that depicts imagery from four Burland novels: The Sailor and the Fox, Flight of the Cavalier, A Fall From Aloft, and Stephen Decatur, the Devil and the Endymion.

A special course is to be taught at Bermuda College on the work of Brian Burland, whom Angela Barry of the Burland Collection Committee has described as "the greatest writer never to be known or acknowledged in the country of his birth".