Morris, Jan (1926-2020), a Welsh author, won distinction as a travel writer. Morris is also considered a transgender pioneer. Her autobiography Conundrum (1974) describes how she came out as a transgender woman.
Morris was born James Humphrey Morris in Clevedon, Somerset (now North Somerset), on Oct. 2, 1926. Under her original name, she worked on the editorial staffs of The Times (1951-1956) and The Guardian (1957-1962). Her breadth of knowledge and vivid literary style are evident in such books as Venice (1960, revised for the second time in 1968); The Great Port (1970), a book about New York City; and Places (1972), one of several books Morris wrote about Wales. In 1972, she came out as transgender and changed her name to Jan Morris.
Morris wrote on a wide range of subjects, including a three-part study of the British Empire, Pax Britannica (1968). Other important books were those on Florence, Italy; Hong Kong; the Manhattan borough (district) of New York City; Spain; and Sydney, Australia. In addition, she wrote several volumes of collected travel essays and two autobiographical books.
Morris’s science fantasy novel Last Letters from Hav (1985) was a candidate for the Booker Prize, the United Kingdom’s most prestigious literary award. A later novel, A Machynlleth Triad (1994), written with Twm Morys, is a futuristic tale set in an imaginary independent Welsh republic. Morris also wrote a controversial study of Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln: A Foreigner’s Quest (2000). A collection of her diaries, Thinking Again, was published in 2020. Morris died on Nov. 20, 2020.
