The George Garrett Archive Project

 Module Three. Workshop Two 

On The Parish. 1926 – 1939. 

From Seaman to Writer to Advocate.

In a continuation of a landmark series of introductions, both discussing and contextualising George Garrett’s life and work, Tony Wailey this week began by exploring how extreme financial dogmatism permeated the period of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Nowhere is this seen better than the great crash of 1929, which draws the world into its vortex. Britain had returned to the Gold Standard of 1913 in the hope it would return the country to pre-war prosperity. Wall Street crashes under a surfeit of credit. In 1932 an incredible 50% of mortgages were broken. Out of the country’s debt of $6.5bn $1.9bn was on motor cars. In the US everything had been put on the consumer boom, white goods and cars – consumer durables.

The crash impacted upon Britain, with imports becoming expensive, though this was lessened by the UK’s ability, in certain areas, to exploit its own internal market with the growing popularity of white goods and consumer durables among its growing, primarily southern, urban economy. However, the impact upon Germany, Austria, and other central European economies, which had been bankrolled by the US after the crashes of 1924, these countries forced into short-term borrowing for long-term projects, was devastating as the US began to call in its loans. Inflation soon becomes almost uncontrollable, with a major impact upon the value of the German Mark. It was only now that the notion of financial orthodoxy began to be challenged.

At first the Labour Gov’t didn’t fare as badly as expected; it passed the Housing Act of 1931 and embarked upon a far reaching building project to meet the needs of the new urbanisation. This led to developments such as Gerard Gardens in Liverpool. However, this was blown off course as the effects of the Wall St. crash continued to ripple out across the globe.

In 1922, when George Garrett and masses of others were marching across the country, 1.1 million people were unemployed. Between 1929 and 1932 this rose to 3m. However, such was the impact of the defeat of the General Strike of 1926 that this rise in unemployment was met with despair rather than militancy, and any treks across the country had long since turned into crusades rather than marches, denoting a move away from militancy of the 20’s to the resigned mood of the 30’s.

The employing class continued the offensive they had begun before, during and after the General Strike, and punitive measures were dished out to both those within and those out of work. For the unemployed these measures were particularly harsh; the ‘Genuinely Seeking Work’ clauses in the unemployment legislation was used as a stick to both beat the unemployed and keep them in check. Dole camps, which represented little more than hard labour, were just another feature of the problems faced by those out of work, and people were virtually ‘huddling down’ to a life on the dole. Walter Greenwood’s seminal novel, Love On the Dole, is published in 1933.

This period represents the longest time that George was without work – little more than a week in five years, as, added to the general problems faced by the unemployed, George was also well-known as a militant figure whose movements are under constant surveillance by the CID, a leader, and one who would always be the last to get the nod if any work was available.

Although conditions in Liverpool are as bad as anywhere else, the city was not designated as a distressed zone or special area, due to the fluidity of the port, with the idea that there would always be some sort of casual work available. However, with 139,000 livelihoods out of a population of over 600,000 in some way dependent upon the port, and shipping suffering with imports and exports falling, there is no doubt that the population suffered extreme distress.

An indication of the fear of the dole was Liverpool Labour leader Jack Braddock’s refusal to accept the nomination for a parliamentary seat on the basis that it could prove temporary. Jack had worked in insurance for ten years and feared dropping back below the bread line. If you were in work during this period you could survive. Cinemas were cheap, as was gambling, food and drink, and often clothing too.

Author and biographer of Bessie Braddock, Millie Toole, talking about seeing George Garrett ‘sauntering along as only George Garrett can, just watching’, seems to sum up George’s attitude at this time. He watches and observes. He’s far from idle, consistently acting as an advocate for those battling their way through the relief and rates boards, and he even stands as an independent candidate for the Brunswick ward in the local elections of 1928, however, he is clearly beginning to ‘write himself out’ of things, taking a step backwards, and turning once again to his craft of writing.

          SWORDS  INTO PLOUGHSHARES

At last the great day arrived. The Chief emerged from his room in full regalia. One hand hidden to the wrist in the breast of his tunic, the long sword trailing from his heels, the imposing figure strutted aft. Wise members of the crew, catching a glimpse of him, dodged clear, one of them remarked later in the stokehold, after poking a heavy slice-bar in six fires, 'We get enough bleeding gymnastics without playing boy scouts with that barmy fucker.' His mates agreed and kept out of the way. 

The donkey-man, Mangor, was not so lucky.'' Eight to twelve was his duty - and this was the Chief’s watch, though he seldom visited the engine-room. This suited Mangor for he disliked being pestered, but something went wrong with one of the engine bearings and he to seek advice. Ascending the poop-ladder, he stopped to study the Chief. The sight of him revived bitter memories. Mangor had soldiered in scattered parts.

The development of new magazines – The Adelphi, New Writing, The Penguin imprint, etc. that suddenly spring up in the 1930’s, coupled with the Mass Observation movement and a new interest in working class writers, gives Garrett his chance. His key themes are Justice, Identity and advocacy, of puncturing pomposity and celebrating often small, individual victories, acts of revenge, of the small man such as Mangor the donkey-man in ‘swords into Ploughshares’ getting one over on the ship’s deranged captain. It’s significant that the mass movement has disappeared from his stories and reportage. This is the politics of the parish pump.

However, it’s still a major struggle to find the time to write. With five young sons in a cramped tenement, he has to get out to find a place to be on his won. But his popularity, coupled with his wealth of knowledge and inability to turn anyone away, means that he cannot even got to the library to work as he is constantly approached for advice and support about relief, other benefits, seamen still missing, etc, etc.
That he not only manages to write, but sees his work published alongside some of the major literary figures of the day, Isherwood, Auden, etc., is a testament to his skill and his determination.

Blog created and written by Mike Morris & Tony Wailey, based upon a series of introductions by Tony Wailey to the George Garrett Archive course.

The George Garrett Archive project workshops are free and open to all. We meet every Monday, 6-8pm in Liverpool John Moores University’s Aldham Robarts Library, Maryland Street, L1 9DE (off HopeStreet).

George Garrett Archive Project

Module Three, Workshop One.

On The Parish. 

The General Strike to another War 1926-1930

George arrives back in Liverpool at the end of the General Strike, to witness ‘Strikers and Policemen playing football together’, a metaphor for everything now being ‘boxed-off’ inpreparation for a return to normal conditions. What he returns to is a country with a deep residue of Imperialism running through it. The General Strike wasn’t wanted by the ruling class, nor by the union leadership, one of whom commented that he ‘feared the working class more than the capitalist class.’

The Government had returned the country to the gold standard of 1913, hoping to hark back to the pre-war days of prosperity. It had a catastrophic effect upon British industry. Business wanted wage cuts for it to be able to survive. The wage cuts in the mining industry led to a major strike of the miners. This led directly to the calling of the General Strike.

The General Strike was a game-changer. It immediately, and against the wishes of the union leaders, assumed a political stance. The TUC blamed the government for bringing politics into it, and rapidly began to use the term ‘national’ for ‘general’ in an attempt to water down the implications of the movement.
At the end of nine days, while still more workers were joining it, the leadership, in a tremendous and humiliating capitulation, with none of their demands met, brought the strike to an end. It was a he defeat for the working class.

The miners stayed out for a further six months, but were finally starved back to work, their communities devastated; the South Wales coal fields lost virtually half their population, and the employers went on the offensive, refusing to let workers return, reducing their workforce and victimising those that had played a leading role. In 1927 a wage act was introduced that further cut wages, and those out of work were hounded off benefits with the strict enforcement against those deemed to be ‘not genuinely seeking work’.

George, after having to return from New York without the success he may have hoped for his plays, no doubt realising the depth of the defeat and what it would have meant for his efforts to find work, may well have had his head in his hands in despair.

George manages to ship out for three months immediately after the strike, but this is his last work for thirteen years. He ties to find work in various guises, and letters of rejection in the archive are a testament to his efforts, but he has returned from a cosmopolitan life of culture and ideas in the bohemia of East 42nd St. to a life ‘on the parish’; a hardship it would be difficult to imagine today.

For this long war of attrition he turns to the pen, and embarks upon creating and completing a series of short stories that will see the light of day in the mid 1930’s. He leaves his plays behind and sets out to hone his skills in the short story form, something of which he has had some success in the early 1920’s. It’s a form that suits his circumstances, and one that can stand alone, doesn’t rely upon breaking through into theatre, and can be sent to new outlets.

However, he is far from inactive. He is actively involved with The Fellowship of Reconciliation, and writes for their magazine and even though he has been away for three years, his reputation as a fighter has stood the test of time. In 1928 he stands for election as an independent candidate, The Man Who Can’t Be Bought, Who Led the Unemployed, The Fighting Candidate and The Seamen’s Champion.

But these are hard times, and although George may have felt after the defeat of the General Strike that the struggle had moved to the political plane, there is despair and apathy, and the growing desire for a Labour Government. Once again, it’s George’s creative abilities that keeps his head above water.



The George Garrett Archive project workshops are free and open to all. We meet every Monday, 6-8pm in Liverpool John Moores University’s Aldham Robarts Library, Maryland Street, L1 9DE (off HopeStreet).

The Story of Our Table

At first we thought we wouldn't understand each other,

but then we dovetailed,

someone drew,

someone translated,

then we all made sense.

In my country it is hard to be a woman,

so I just want to listen.

It's too hard to think about the past

but the future – I'd like to be a fashion maker,

I want to be a successful person in this place.

You can use your past to build your future,

but not to dwell there.

This poem was written by participants in Writing on the Wall's Where are you from and What's your Story? event in association with Refugee Action and Asylum Link.

What's Your Story? Writing Courses

Our three latest What's Your Story? courses have been a fantastic success!

Over the past couple of months, Writing on the Wall has collaborated with Refugee Action, The Stroke Association and The Liverpool Mental Health Consortium to provide free writing courses to connect individuals and communities, develop opportunities for self-expression, using group-work and circle time to ensure accessibility and collective encouragement for members of communities who often feel excluded from traditional writing activities.

The Refugee Action group were tutored by award winning author, Helen Walsh.
This is what she had to say about the course and her experience:

"I can think of few instances in my life to date where a group of people have inspired, challenged and subverted my way of looking at the world in such a way as my students did in those sessions. Each week I was presented with new ways of looking at the human experience, each week I was forced to pare back those uncomfortable truths of humanity, and in doing so re-evaluate my understanding of the concept of liberty, and question how often and how casually it is squandered here in the Western world.

All of my writers were brimming with stories, so rich and complex and ultimately life affirming, that they needed little inspiration from me. I hope that they will continue to lay down their pasts and make sense of the here and now and that one day, we are able to read their stories in print. I’m in no doubt that the face of contemporary fiction will be richer, deeper, better for it."

We are currently preparing a publication of their work on the website and will be holding a celebration event for the writers soon.

Performance artist, Curtis Watt worked with Stroke Survivors in association with The Stroke Association. The group ran for six weeks and ended with a performance at the Liverpool Central Library. This What’s Your Story? creative writing course enabled stroke survivors to tell their story about the impact of stroke and life after stroke. The celebration event was held at The Central Library, the night was full of inspirational stories and poetry from the group.

Kate Charles
Stroke Association Coordinator:

"The project was a huge success and we hope to work more with WoW in the future. The participants of the ‘What’s your story’ project have gained in confidence and developed some hidden talents and skills. Being able to share their stories has really helped them emotionally in their recovery from stroke. Curtis was fantastic with the group and really did get the very best out of them in such a short space of time. 

The celebration event was a huge success and enabled stroke survivors to have a voice and also raise awareness about the impact of stroke, particularly highlighting young/working age stroke as many of the participants were of this age group.They all showed courage and inspiration beyond any of our expectations and we are proud of their achievements. All of the amazing work they produced has shown that there is life after stroke and they all achieved something that they maybe never thought would be possible."

Performer and writer, Clare Shaw worked with our group in collaboration with The Liverpool Mental Health Consortium.

The What's Your Story? writers performed at Liverpool Central Library and were presented with a published book of their work. The evening was truly moving, with heartfelt stories from the group.

WoW would like to thank everyone who made this such a special couple of months. It really has been fantastic hearing and reading everyone's spectacular work. We are proud to be enabling people to express themselves through their words in our What's Your Story? courses.

George Garrett Archive project.

 Module Two, Workshop Four.

Last years in the States.
A Playwright Amongst Stokers. 1924-26.

It’s a question of identity. How did George travel from the image of his early days as a Stoker, or even from the ‘Coney Island Boy’ of 1919, to the image taken when he enters the States, for the second time, in 1923, when he appears to have modelled himself upon the writers of the day, going by the name George Oswald James?

Who was George Oswald James? That’s an open question. The issues really is about where were the influences coming from that he was absorbing; and the answer to that, as we discussed before, lies in the plays of the new radical, Eugene O’Neill, with Far Horizon, Anna Christie and The Hairy Ape. It seems likely that George has already written, or begun writing, his short stories. The Irish tramp writer, Jim Phelan, who first met Garrett (or Joe Jarrett as he refers to him in ‘The Name’s Phelan’) in New Orleans, talks about how Garrett already referred to himself as a writer. It’s most likely, with stories already in his bag, that Garrett’s head was turned by the new drama pouring forth from New York, which would have chimed well with his ‘Wobbly’ sensibilities of mixing theatre and song with a radical message.

Garrett is in New York and needs to earn money. In the middle of the prohibition era (1920-33) he works in a brewery; While seemingly living under the radar he takes a job as a janitor in a Police Station. He lives on East 42nd Street, a bohemian time. The age of prohibition is also the age of the mobster. Like a real life Zelig, he’s even on hand to witness the aftermath of the murder of the legendary boxer ‘Battling Siki’.

During his time in New York there is a major world-wide strike of British shipping. The strike was provoked by a union-imposed wage cut. Seamen, realising they couldn’t walk off at home, who now had to apply for a 'PC5 system' which allowed the Shipping Federation and the union to decide who could work on the ships, began to walk off ships in ports across the world outside of the UK – New York, Montreal, New Zealand, Auckland, etc. A strike against Empire.

George, a good friend of George Hardy, leader of the International Seamen’ Organisation, would no doubt have been fully aware of this, yet appears to have played no part. It’s entirely possible that in this period George still harboured hopes of bringing Grace and his young family to New York and applying for naturalisation. Three years in the States without sailing is a long time, and it seems he may have even decided that his days as a seamen could be over too. But why?

Taking menial jobs, often working at night, coupled with his extraordinary literary output and his lodging with the three young, no doubt struggling actors, suggests that George was in America for one specific reason – to write. In many ways this is his first period of sustained writing, and his decision to leave Liverpool, and the UK, after the end of the 1922 Hunger March, also relives him of his duties as he felt them towards his fellow unemployed, a responsibility he took very seriously, although intensely conscious of the effect it had upon the time he could devote to writing.

The excellent work of the late Michael Murphy, who brought together George’s short stories together for the first time in print in 1999’s The Collected George Garrett, served also to position him primarily as an artist of the short form. When you consider the three plays he writes in the early 1920’s, Two Tides, Flowers and Candles and Tombstones and Grass, the plays he writes, or contributes to for The Unity Theatre in the 1930’s, Man with a Plan and One Hundred Years Hard, plus work we have seen in an as yet undocumented section of the archive, as well his work as an actor for The Left Theatre and Unity Theatre, it could be argued that he was primarily a dramatist.

Yet, taking into account that the only evidence we have of his plays in New York are two rejection letters from theatres, it seems surprising that, upon returning to Liverpool in 1926 he seems to leave his plays behind. Judging by the strength of his technique allied to the progressive themes of his plays, it may well have been that he simply had no outlet for them in Liverpool. When that outlet appeared in the form of The Left and Unity Theatre, he returned to drama, although not his original plays.

George’s time in New York in the mid-twenties represents for him an intensely creative period. But as it draws to a close, when the work dries up and American workers are being favoured over George and the many immigrants trying to make a buck, with America being on an unstoppable course towards the great crash of 1929, and with his efforts as a playwright gaining little success, it’s also a time for some serious decisions. In reality the only choice for George is to go back to sea, back to Liverpool.

Tony, quoting from Olivia Laing’s book, Trip to Echo Spring: Why Writers Drink, mentioned Raymond Carver’s quote about the long erosion of hope often experienced by many writers as they struggle to live and keep at their craft. George never turned to drink. But, if he couldn’t make a go of his plays in the States, how in the hell was he going to make it work in Britain, with its ban on American Musicians and still oh so stiff collar attitudes, particularly on a cultural level, where jazz was seen as the devil’s music. The excitement of America, with all its privations, must surely have seemed a long, long way away on his return to Liverpool and the still extant mass unemployment. No doubt the silver-lining for George, the main driving force bringing him home, and something celebrated throughout Tombstones and Grass, would have been his family.

It’s hard to believe, but in all the material we have come across in the archive, from his great friends Jerry Dawson, Alan O’Toole, and from various biographical sketches and critical notes, virtually no-one mentions his plays. And although there’s no doubt, given more time, critical support and encouragement, they may have been developed further, as they stand they are not without merit. What is most incredible is how quickly George absorbs the new direction of the New York drama, and is able to bring it fully to bear in his work, in both his Liverpool play Two Tides, and in the two following that are set in New York.

There isn’t the time here to go into any great analysis of the plays, but I do just want to show some quotes from Tombstones and Grass, which give a glimpse of the progressive nature of George’s themes, and how he is using Modernist techniques, something I doubt many other Liverpool, or even UK playwrights generally were using at this time. It will be some interesting research to look into just what was playing in the theatres in Liverpool in the mid 1920’s.

The short story published in May 1935, ‘The Overcoat’, takes on a greater significance when considering George’s use of pseudonyms, and his ever changing identity. Allen, the young brother, takes advantage of his elder brother Andrew’s hospitalisation to wear Andrew’s new, expensive overcoat. It seems too large, but he grows into it, and wears it out and about to impress his girlfriend. He’s mistaken for his brother and receives a compliment on his behalf. He falls out with his girl after arriving late, leaving her on a wet corner, because he couldn't risk getting the coat wet. He finds himself trapped, unable to let it go, but living a lie. His brother dies, and guilt consumes him – has he killed him off?

‘The Overcoat’ is an incredibly skillful story, with layer upon layer of meaning, within the text itself, and also taken as a reading relating to George’s life. The new overcoat transforms how Allen feels about himself, in much the same way as George’s pseudonyms may have worked for George.

These extracts from Tombstones and Grass, give a brief insight into George’s themes. The play follows the fortunes of Jim, breaking free from his overbearing parents, who suffers the death of his young wife after childbirth. The child is brought up by his wife’s sister, Josephine, a nurse who is resisting the approaches of the doctor. The play ends in tragedy for Jim, but the themes throughout a strong and uplifting, exploring race, the modern family and superficial respectability genuine love.

The plays will all be available on the George Garrett website in due course, and we will be presenting a rehearsed reading of his earliest play set in Liverpool in 1918, Two Tides, during the George Garrett celebration events at the Writing on the Wall festival in 2014.

The George Garrett Archive project workshops are free and open to all. We meet every Monday, 6-8pm in Liverpool John Moores University’s Aldham Robarts Library, Maryland Street, L1 9DE (off HopeStreet).

George Garrett Archive Project.

Module Two, Workshop Three.

George Oswald James. 1922 – 24.

With the 1922 Hunger March over, George realises his prospects in Liverpool are no better. Leader of the unemployed demonstrations, arrested as one of the leaders at the walker Art Gallery ‘riots’ in Liverpool; George knows his name will be first among equals on the blacklist. With a growing young family to provide he heads to Southampton, gets work on the Homeric, and sails once again for his beloved New York. But this is a different George Garrett than the one who sailed before. He’s not just sailing for money, he’s leaving Liverpool to find some space to write. He boards the Homeric as George Garrett and alights in New York as George Oswald James; just one of the many pseudonyms he used throughout his life.

He finds a place on East 42^nd Street, and shares rooms with young actors Barry Fitzgerald and Victor McLaglen, both of whom achieve success in Hollywood, appearing in John Wayne’s 1952 Film, The Quiet Man. According to George’s son John, these actors introduce him to theatre, although it is possible he is already writing drama as his play Two Tides appears to have been written between 1920-22, just after George’s first stint in the States.

In Liverpool George can hardly step out of his front door without being accosted by people seeking his help with benefits, appeals to the Poor Law Guardians, knowing that if he can’t help he will at least provide a sympathetic ear for their woes. In New York, as George Oswald James, he can live below the radar, live out the siege in the room, giving him the first opportunity he has had for some time for a sustained period of writing.

It’s a measure of how intensely he applies himself to his work that in 1925 he registers two plays with the Washington Library of Congress; Flowers and Candles and Tombstones and Grass. Unlike Two Tides these two plays are set in America, but all three plays show clearly just how much he has absorbed, and how tuned in George is to the new age of drama coming ut of New York; drama that will change the face of theatre, with the charge being led by one of George’s most powerful influences – so powerful that he names one of his sons in his honour - Eugene O’Neill.

George is living, both physically and spiritually, at the centre of the dramatic universe. He comes in at the point when the The Ghetto pastoral movement is in full swing. In 1920 Eugene O’Neill’s play, Beyond the Horizon has taken Broadway by storm, winning the playwright the first of his four Pulitzer Prizes for Literature. With characters full of ‘Dis, dat, dem and do’s’, he’s the first playwright to bring the vernacular to the stage, real American characters full of anger, frustration, revenge and repressed desire, played out within tight, confined spaces in tenements and rooming houses. It’s easy to see, coming from the close drawn terraces where he grew up, what impact this would have had on George, and imagine the ‘light-bulb’ moment for him, the realisation that here was the way for him to tell his stories. Being so close to the life of the New York Theatres and living among working actors would have given him the route he was looking for to go from script to stage.

Unfortunately, although we have as a record of his ambition a number of rejection letters from New York theatres where he sent his plays for reading, we don’t have a record of any of his plays being accepted for performance, although it would be hard to imagine, in the circles he was mixing, that he didn’t receive support, and maybe somewhere, in a union hall or among friends, hear his plays read out. Maybe his plays were too influenced by O’Neill – there can be little doubt that there would have been many attempting to emulate his work and follow in his footsteps – but that’s for another discussion.

But still, it takes nothing away from his enormous achievement of completing the three plays – each in four acts as was the style of the day, which have clearly undergone numerous drafts, and bound and sent out who knows how many theatres, written within no more than five years, and most likely within three or four years. He situates his characters in the intense locale, and puts them under a microscope. The plays work well within themselves, the characters by and large are well drawn, and the drama is strong.

In the workshop we divided the parts and read out the first act of ‘Flowers and Candles’. The passage from the play will give you an idea of how much wedded he is to the geography of the city:

“Flowers and Candles”

Scene – Act 1

The Scene is the parlor of one of the many rooming houses situated near the North River, the lower west side, New York City. The furniture is cheap and gaudy, with the exception of a glass bureau, containing souvenirs from different parts of the world…

We all felt it was hugely enjoyable to read out the play, and in the following discussion points were made about how he made it clear it was a typical seafarers house, as recognisable in Liverpool as in New York; how the women dominated the family, the matriarchal line in control as the men were away at sea; how George used the same style as O’Neill and other playwrights to keep the action tight, held in just one room, with people always coming and going towards and away from the action.

George, like the American playwrights, deals with many progressive, challenging themes, and issues of morality are never from the surface of this or his later work. While he may have been influenced by American playwrights, what is remarkable is just how far ahead of UK and Liverpool playwrights of his time he must have been. While George played a key role in the founding of The Unity Theatre in Liverpool in the 1930’s, there is again, sadly, no evidence of his plays being performed in Liverpool either, but again, that is research for another day.

The workshops are free and open to all. We meet every Monday, 6-8pm in Liverpool John Moores University’s Aldham Robarts Library, Maryland Street, L1 9DE (off HopeStreet).