Canterbury’s Aphra Behn (1640-1689): Literature’s best kept secret

An exhibition exploring the dramatic life and work of this important writer. 

Born on the edge of Canterbury in Harbledown in 1640 Aphra Johnson the daughter of a barber and a woman serving as a wetnurse was to become the first professional woman writer in English Aphra Behn.  

As Aphra Behn she became a spy and then a fantastically successful playwright poet translator and fiction-writer who was buried in Westminster Abbey.  

This exhibition celebrates the startling achievements of this daughter of Canterbury which included two plays so loved by audiences that they were performed on the London stage every season for over 50 years and a novella Oroonoko the first fiction in English to centre on a rebellion of enslaved Africans.  

We trace her story starting in a world where outspoken women might be punished via her spying trip to Antwerp in 1666 to her glittering London career in the 1670s and 1680s.  

Despite her successes her journey was full of challenges. As she wryly remarked in the preface to her comedy Sir Patient Fancy in 1678 ‘The play had no other misfortune but that of coming out for a woman’s; had it been owned by a man though the most dull unthinking rascally scribbler in town it had been a most admirable play’.  

As Canterbury unveils its publicly funded statue of Aphra come and find out about the obstacles she faced and celebrate what she achieved despite them. 

Exhibition includes:  

Loans from The National Archives The National Portrait Gallery The National Trust The Amelia Tunbridge Wells Kent Libraries Registration & Archives and the Dean and Chapter Canterbury Cathedral.  

Family friendly activities inspired by Aphra Behn’s work as a playwright and spy! 

Free admission £3 suggested donation. 

Special Exhibitions Gallery First Floor The Beaney 

Host or Publisher Canterbury Museums