author
Helen Parry Eden
1885–1960
An English poet and critic remembered for graceful, thoughtful verse and a lively literary life, she also helped popularize the phrase “bread and circuses” in English. Her work often moves between domestic detail, faith, wit, and the shadows of war.
2 Audiobooks
Bread and Circuses
by Helen Parry Eden
Coal and Candlelight, and Other Verses
by Helen Parry Eden
About the author
Born in London in 1885, she was the daughter of the judge and writer Sir Edward Abbott Parry. She was educated at Roedean School, studied at Manchester University, and attended King’s College Art School, where she trained under Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole.
In 1907 she married the artist Denis Eden, and the couple became Catholic converts in 1909. She wrote poetry, criticism, and prose, and is especially associated with collections such as Coal and Candlelight, and Other Verses and Poems and Verses. Sources also credit her with helping make the phrase “bread and circuses” familiar in English.
Her writing is often described as clear, humane, and attentive to ordinary life as well as larger spiritual and historical themes. She died on December 19, 1960.