Nugent Barker

Who was Nugent Barker?

Little is known about Nugent Barker, who is remembered for the evocative ghost story 'Whessoe', and the grimly humorous 'Curious Adventure of Mr Bond'. Although rated highly by contemporaries little is known of his life, and the twenty-one tales in Written With My Left Hand, first collected in 1950, are thought to represent the total of Barker’s literary output.

When O’Brien reprinted ‘Whessoe’ in the Best British Short Stories of 1929 the book contained the only biographical notice extant:

Educated at Cheltenham College. Began life as a black and white artist. In 1914 the doctors failed to pass him into the army on account of his eyes. Has recently devoted himself entirely to literature. He comes from one of the oldest Irish families, the Nugents of Westmeath. He lives in London.

In the late 1920s, Barker lived at 16 Tite Street in Chelsea, in the house previously occupied by Oscar Wilde. Barker was still living at this address at the time of his death in 1955.

Douglas A. Anderson noted in a Foreword to a later edition of Written With My Left Hand that Barker ranks alongside fellow twentieth-century exponents of the strange story, Walter de la Mare and John Metcalfe.