Brian Burland (1931–2010) was a Bermudian writer, who was the author of nine acclaimed novels that typically dealt with colonialism, family strife and race. He was also a published poet and the first Bermudian novelist to receive international acclaim.
He had a privileged family background, but from an early age was very conscious of Bermuda's racial inequalities and empathised with black Bermudians. He began his education at Saltus Grammar School in Hamilton, Bermuda, before being sent to England in 1944 as a boarder to Aldenham School in Hertfordshire. His experiences on the ship crossing the Atlantic during World War II would be evoked in his early novel A Fall from Aloft. He subsequently attended the University of Western Ontario in Canada, where he took a graduate English course, but dropped out without graduating. Travelling to Ireland, he began working on his first novel.
On the death of his father in 1951 Burland returned to Bermuda and worked in the family construction company for five years. In 1956 he sold his interest in the company, and, aged 26, went to Jamaica. There he met Noël Coward, who was impressed with a short story of Burland's.
Age of Sail: Fiction
AOS Naval Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| 1813 | Stephen Decatur: The Devil and the Endymion | USS President is forced to surrender after a battle with HMS Endymion |
| Surprise | An accomplished black sailor defends his settlement against the Royal Navy. | |
Modern Era: Fiction
Modern Era Other Nautical Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| WWII | A Fall from Aloft | A boy is shipped off to boarding school, crossing the Atlantic during the U-boat era |