Category Archives: Anniversaries

Biography of a Poem: W H Auden’s “September 1, 1939”

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The Times has a review of a new book by Ian Sansom in its “Book of the Week” column. This is a “biography” of W H Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939” soon to celebrate its 80th birthday. The review by … Continue reading →

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80th Anniversary of Phoney War Marked

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The Oldie in anticipation of the 80th anniversary of the start of WWII next month, has an article by literary critic Michael Barber entitled “What was the Phoney War?” As he explains: Eighty years ago, on 3rd September 1939, that … Continue reading →

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Biography of Orwell’s 1984

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Today’s New York Times reviews what it describes as a biography of George Orwell’s novel 1984. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the novel’s publication on  8 June 1949 in London and a week later in New York. The book’s … Continue reading →

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80th Anniversary of Robbery Under Law

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

This year marks the 80th anniversary of EvelynWaugh’s book, Robbery Under Law: The Mexican Object Lesson. This was published in the UK in June 1939 and an American edition followed in September under the title Mexico: An Object Lesson.  The … Continue reading →

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Iris Murdoch Centenary Marked This Week

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

This week is the 100th anniversary of novelist-philosopher Iris Murdoch’s birth in 1919. It will be marked by a Centenary Conference at St Anne’s College, Oxford this weekend (13-15 July). A later conference is scheduled on 10-11 October at the … Continue reading →

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Weedon Grossmith (d. 14 June 1919)

Posted on June 14, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Weedon Grossmith, best known as the co-author of The Diary of a Nobody (1892) died 100 years ago today. His collaborator was his brother George Grossmith who died in 1912. They were both also successful stage performers and wrote scripts … Continue reading →

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Brideshead at 75

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

It was 75 years today that Evelyn Waugh completed his draft of Brideshead Revisited and sent it off to the typist. According to Robert Murray Davis (Evelyn Waugh, Writer, Chapter 6), Waugh had first mentioned writing another novel in October … Continue reading →

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Queen Victoria @ 200

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

On Queen Victoria’s 200th birthday we should recall that Evelyn Waugh was a keen admirer of all things Victorian, if not necessarily the Queen herself. He wrote several articles dedicated to Victoriana at a time when it was not a … Continue reading →

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J D Salinger Centenary Observed

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Today is the centenary of the birth of US novelist J D Salinger. This is marked in a retrospective article by Martin Chilton in today’s issue of The Independent that opens with this: The Manhattan-born author notoriously went into suburban … Continue reading →

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Something for the New Year

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Jeffrey Manley

Constable has announced the publication later in the new year of a book by D J Taylor entitled Lost Girls: Love, War and Literature: 1939-51: Who were the Lost Girls? At least a dozen or so young women at large in … Continue reading →

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