Alicia Lefanu

Lydia Craig (Eastern Illinois University)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Sorcha DeBrun (University of Limerick), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Eoghan Smith (Carlow College), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born 1791
Died 1867

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in

Activities

Primary

Writer / Author

Resources

Lefanu's Works

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Alicia Lefanu was an Anglo-Irish novelist active from 1809 to 1836. In total, she published eight novels, one biography, a short story, two books of verse, and several poems in newspapers and periodicals. She published under the names “Miss Lefanu”, “Alicia Lefanu”, or “ALICIA”. Records of Lefanu’s life can be difficult to locate owing to multiple spelling variants of her last name (Lefanu, Le Fanu, Le Fann, Le Fenne, Le’Fann, etc.) in public records. She herself appears to have written her name Lefanu, though some scholars such as Anne Jamison have referenced her using the more standard Gallic rendering favoured by other relatives including her cousin, the Victorian writer of the macabre, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (“Alicia” 1). Despite her obscurity, Alicia Lefanu has…

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4556 words

Citation: Craig, Lydia. "Alicia Lefanu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 June 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15150, accessed 17 July 2025.]