Philip Tew

Professor Philip Tew (born Enfield, Middlesex) is an English academic. Professor in English (Post-1900 Literature) in the School of Arts at Brunel University [3], Tew as a literary critic and theorist is a leading expert in the field of contemporary and modern British fiction after 1945, and various strands of critical or 'high' theory, particularly metarealism and materialism. He has been an outspoken opponent of the essentialism and anti-realist orthodoxies underlying much of postmodernist and postcolonial criticism. Tew is the author of standard works on B.S. Johnson, Jim Crace, Zadie Smith, and the contemporary British novel. He has edited numerous academic collections, series and journals. His recent work has focused on social gerontology and the use of narrative theories in social and cultural analysis.

Education and career

Tew was born into a working class English family in the London Borough of Enfield, already attending a primary school in Eastern Enfield in which actor Ray Winstone enrolled aged seven. Tew's secondary education took place at Enfield Grammar School, which he entered in 1965 when Jim Crace, subsequently to become one of Britain's foremost novelists and the subject of a monograph by Tew, was in the third-year sixth re-sitting maths O-level to add to his A-Levels for university entry. The school became comprehensive in Tew's second year.

After A-levels Tew himself attended the University of Leicester, where he gained a BA (Upper Second Class Hons.) in American Studies (with English and History). Subsequently he was awarded a PGCE in English (Middle and Secondary Schools), studying at the Scraptoft Campus, by Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University), and he has taught in numerous schools and colleges. He worked in both primary and secondary schools in Leicester, Leicestershire and London. He also lectured in Further Education Colleges in English for the ILEA (Inner London Education Authority).

After part-time research, Tew gained an MPhil in modern American literature in 1985, with a thesis focussing on the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. In 1995, after an eight-year career in Further Education Colleges and five years in his first university post, Tew left full-time employment to enter the PhD programme at the University of Westminster. He completed his doctorate - on avant-garde, working class author, B.S. Johnson - in twenty months between October 1995 and May 1997: Manchester University Press published a revised version as an academic monograph in 2001. [For the above see Gale Research Company's Contemporary Authors website]

Tew has held various full and part-time appointments at the following higher education establishments since 1990: University of Wolverhampton; University of Westminster; Jesus College, Cambridge; Debrecen University (Hungary); Szeged University (Hungary); Birmingham City University; University of Northampton and Brunel University. He was Reader (Associate Professor) in English at Debrecen University (Hungary) and Birmingham City University (formerly UCE Birmingham), and Professor of English at the University of Northampton and Brunel University (appointed in May 2006).

Tew has also had many jobs outside education. In the early 1980s, he worked as a playleader on a GLC (Greater London Council) scheme, setting up huge inflatable structures in London parks. (A fellow playleader, Will Self, who became a long-term friend, subsequently achieved considerable success as a satirical novelist, a journalist, and broadcaster.) Tew was also an occasional stage hand at the English National Opera during this period, working at the London Coliseum theatre. From 1997–2001 Tew combined academic work with freelance assignments in television research and production for Café Productions and Dai-4 Films.[4] He continues as an occasional consultant for the latter.

Tew has lectured widely in North America, Taiwan, and Europe (including Albania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and Russia). His academic criticism is both recommended reading on university courses and stocked in college and university libraries worldwide. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Memberships and other roles

Tew is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts [18] and member of the Royal Society of Literature [19], founding and executive Director of the UK Network for Modern Fiction Studies[20], joint managing editor of Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations[21], and a member of a national panel to assess research funding submissions in the humanities (the AHRC Peer Review College). He is founding co-editor of Critical Engagements, a peer-reviewed journal affiliated to the UK Network for Modern Fiction Studies, Since 1998 he has been an active member of the Northeast Modern Languages Association (NEMLA), a regional scholarly organization for professionals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other modern languages based in the USA [22]. He is currently Director of the Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing (BCCW), and Principal Investigator of the Fiction and the Cultural Mediation of Ageing Project (FCMAP), based at Brunel, funded by the Joint Research Councils (part of the New Dynamics of Ageing Initiative or NDA).

Notable publications

Tew's many publications include the following books: B. S. Johnson: A Critical Reading (Manchester UP, 2001), Contemporary British Fiction (Polity, 2003) co-edited with Richard J. Lane and Rod Mengham (Reader in English, Jesus College, Cambridge), The Contemporary British Novel (Continuum, 2004; Svetovi Press Serbian translation 2006; second rev. ed. 2007), Jim Crace: A Critical Introduction (Manchester UP, 2006) [23], British Fiction Today co-edited with Rod Mengham (Continuum, 2006) [24] and Re-reading B. S. Johnson (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) a collection co-edited with Glyn White [25], and Writer's Talk co-edited with Fiona Tolan and Leigh Wilson (Continuum, 2008). Recent years have seen the publication of first Re-Envisioning the Pastoral (Fairleigh Dickinson UP) co-edited with David James, followed by Modernism Handbook (Continuum) co-edited with Alex Murray, and Beckett and Death (Continuum), and even more recently Tew has produced Zadie Smith (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and Beckett and Death (Continuum, 2009) co-edited with Steve Barfield and Matthew Feldman. Tew is co-editor of two series: Palgrave Macmillan's New British Fiction (with Rod Mengham) and Continuum's Literature and Culture Handbooks (the first phase edited with Steven Barfield).

Personal life

Tew lived in Leicester from 1972 - 1980, in Hackney and Islington variously until 1988 from which time he resided mainly in Tufnell Park in north London until 2009. Married in 1976, he was divorced in 1981. He has one son, George, born in 1980, who is a graduate of Bristol and Oxford universities. Currently Tew lives in the Enfield Lock area in Greater London.

Works

Books :

• Zadie Smith [Palgrave Macmillan New British Fiction Series, Gen. Eds. Philip Tew and Rod Mengham] London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009 [ISBN 0230516769 / 978-0230516762].
• Beckett and Death. Steve Barfield, Philip Tew and Matthew Feldman (eds). London: Continuum, 2009 [ISBN 0826498353 / 978-0826498359].
• New Versions of Pastoral: Post-romantic, Modern, and Contemporary Responses to the Tradition. David James and Philip Tew (eds). Madison / Teeaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2009. pp. 295. [ISBN 083864189X / 978-0838641897].
• Modernism Handbook. Philip Tew and Alex Murray (eds.) [Continuum Handbooks for Literature and Culture Series / Steven Barfield and Philip Tew (Gen. eds.), London: Continuum, 2009. pp. 248. [ISBN 0826488439 / 978-0826488435].
• Writers Talk: Interviews with Contemporary British Novelists. (With Fiona Tolan and Leigh Wilson). London: Continuum, 2008. pp. 257(ISBN 1847140246 / 978-1847140241).
• Re-Reading B. S. Johnson. Philip Tew and Glyn White (eds.) London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. pp. 240. (ISBN 978-0-230-52492-7) (ISBN 0-230-52492-3).
• The Contemporary British Novel, London: Continuum, 2007. Second Revised Edition. pp. 257 (ISBN 082647349) (ISBN 0826493203 / 978-0826493200 ).
• Teaching Contemporary British Fiction. [special issue of Anglistik und Englischunterricht] Barfield, Steve, Philip Tew, Anja Müller-Wood and Leigh Wilson (eds.). Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2007) [ISBN 978-3-8253-5288-2 / 3825352889); (ISSN 0344 8266].
• British Fiction Today. Philip Tew and Rod Mengham (eds.) London: Continuum, 2006 (ISBN 08264 87319) (ISBN 08264 873 27).
• Jim Crace. Contemporary British Fiction series (gen. ed. Dr. Daniel Lea). Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006. (P/B 0719069130/ 978-0719069130; H/B 0719069122/ 978-0719069123).
• Savremeni Britanski Roman [САВРЕМЕНИ БРИТАНСКИ РОМАН. Serb translation of The Contemporary British Novel], Svetovi Press: Novi Sad, Serbia, 2006. Trans. Nataša Vavan Pralica. [ISBN 86-7047-490-5].
• The Contemporary British Novel, London: Continuum, 2004, pp. 206 (ISBN 082647349) (ISBN 0 8624 7350 4). Reviewed in TLS No. 5294, 17 Sept. 2004.
• Contemporary British Fiction, Richard J. Lane, Rod Mengham, and Philip Tew (eds.). Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003, pp. 276 (ISBN 0-7456-2866-4).
• B. S. Johnson: A Critical Reading, Manchester University Press and St. Martin’s, Manchester and New York, 2001, pp. 288; (ISBN 0-7190-5626-8).

Chapters and Essays in Books & Collections:

• ‘Childhood, longing, sexuality, violence and sacrifice in ‘’The River’’, ‘’An Episode of Sparrows’’, and ‘’The Greengage Summer’’. In ‘’Rumer Godden: International and Intermodern Storyteller’’. Phyllis Lassner and Lucy Le-Guilcher (eds). Ashgate, 2010 forthcoming [ISBN 978-0-7546-6828-2].
• 'Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night (1961) Howard W. Campbell, Jr., and the Banalities of Evil,' in New Critical essays on Kurt Vonnegut. David Simmons (ed). New York: Palgrave Macmilla, 2009: 11 - 26.
• ‘Situating the Violence of J.G. Ballard's Postmillennial Fiction: The Possibilities of Sacrifice, the Certainties of Trauma,’ in J. G. Ballard: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Jeanette Baxter (ed). London: Continuum, 2008: 107 - 119.
• ‘James Thomson’s London: Beyond the Apocalyptic Vision of the City?’ in A Mighty Mass of Brick and Smoke: Victorian and Edwardian Representations of London. Lawrence Phillips (ed.). Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007: 107 – 29 (ISBN 9789042022904).
• ‘Wintersonian Masculinities.’ In Jeanette Winterson. Sonya Andermahr (ed.). London: Continuum, 2007, 114 – 29. (HB: 9780826492746 / PB: 9780826492753).
• ‘Literary Theory.’ Dictionary of Critical Realism. Mervyn Hartwig (ed.). London and New York: Routledge, 2007, 280 – 2. [ISBN: H/B 0415261619, 9780415261616; P/B 041526099x, 9780415260992]
• ‘Martin Amis and Late-twentieth-century Working-class Masculinity: Money and London Fields.’ Gavin Keulks. (ed). Martin Amis: Postmodernism and Beyond. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 71 – 86. (ISBN: H/B 0230008305, 9780230008304).
• ‘Exploring the Self, Judaism and the Pentateuch: Jenny Diski’s Skating to Antarctica (1997), Only Human: A Divine Comedy (2000) and After These Things (2004).’ British Fiction Today. Rod Mengham and Philip Tew (eds.) London: Continuum, forthcoming 2006 (ISBN: HB: 08264 87319; PB: 08264 873 27).
• ‘B. S. Johnson and the BBC: Initial Contacts.’ Reading Without Maps: Cultural Landmarks in a Post-Canonical Age. A Tribute to Gilbert Debusscher. Christophe Den Tandt (ed.). Brussels and New York: PIE/Peter Lang, 2005: 119 – 33. [invited & refereed contribution]
• ‘Exploring an Economy of Exegetical Structures through Cassirer and Bourdieu.’ Metaphors of Economy. Critical Studies series. Nicole Bracker and Stefan Herbrechter (eds.). Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2005: 39 – 53 (ISBN 90-420-1568-3).
• 'British Theory and Criticism, 1900 and After.' With Prof. Philip Smallwood. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Criticism and Theory. 2nd ed. Michael Groden, Martin Kreiswirth, and Imre Szeman (eds.). Baltimore & London: Johns Hopkins UP, 2005: 156 -160. (ISBN 0-8018-8010-6)
• ‘My doingthings: London according to B. S. Johnson.’ Literary London. Lawrence Phillips (ed). Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2004: 111 – 129 (ISBN 90-420-1663-9).
• ‘Three Dialogues as a Laughable Text?: Beckett’s Bergsonian Comedy,’ Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui. 1 February 2003, vol. 13, no. 1, 105-118; Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi. (ISBN 90-420-0808-3) [refereed submission]
• ‘A New Sense of Reality? A New Sense of the Text? 'Exploring the Literary-Critical Field and Meta-Realism.’ After Postmodernism. Klaus Stierstorfer (ed.). Berlin and New York: De Gruyter, 2003: 29 – 50. (ISBN 3-11-017722-6).
• ‘Radical Victorian.’ [critical after-word]. Thomson, James. The City of Dreadful Night. London: Agraphia, 2003: 55 – 66 (ISBN 1 904596 01 0).
• ‘Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Parody: Exceedingly Beckett.’ With Steven Barfield. Pastiches, Parodies & Other Imitations (Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui 12) . Marius Buning, Matthijs Engelberts and Sjef Houppermans (eds.).Amsterdam and New York, Rodopi, 2002: 93 – 104 (ISBN 90-420-1094-0)
• ‘The Fiction of A. L. Kennedy.’ Contemporary British Fiction. Richard J. Lane, Rod Mangham and Philip Tew (eds.). Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003: 120 – 39 (ISBN 0-7456-2866-4 ).
• ‘Philosophical adjacency: Beckett’s Prose Fragments via Jűrgen Habermas.’ Beckett and Philosophy. Richard J. Lane (ed.). London: Palgrave, 2002: 140 - 153 (ISBN 0-333-91879-7).
• ‘Co-ordinates for Reconsidering Literary Interpretation.’ After Postmodernism: An Introduction to Critical Realism. Garry Potter & Jose Lopez (eds.). London: Athlone Press: 2001: 196 – 205 (ISBN: HB – 0 00440 2; PB – 0 485 00629 4).
• ‘Chaos and Truth: B. S. Johnson’s Theoretical and Literary Narratives.’ Focus: Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies. Maria Kurdi, Gabriella Hartvig and Andrew C. Rouse, (eds.). Pecs, Hungary: U of Pecs P, 2000: 38 – 54; (ISSN: 1585-5228).

Periodical and Journal Publication:

• ‘Across the Prairies, and Beyond the Postmodern: A. L. Kennedy, Linda Hutcheon and Realizing the Contemporary.’ Wascana Review of Contemporary Poetry and Fiction. Spring 2003 (38:1): 51 – 65. (ISSN 0043 0412).
• ‘Introduction.’ New Formations: A Journal of Culture / Theory / Politics. Philip Tew and Wendy Wheeler (eds.). 49 (Spring 2003): 7 – 13. (ISSN 09502378; ISBN 0-85315-974-2).
• Complex Figures issue. New Formations: A Journal of Culture / Theory / Politics. 49 (Spring 2003) Philip Tew and Wendy Wheeler (eds.): 187pp; (ISSN 09502378; ISBN 0-85315-974-2).
• ‘B. S. Johnson,’ [author overview essay]. The Review of Contemporary Fiction. 22:1 (Spring 2002): 7 – 58 (ISSN: 0276-0045).
• ‘A Matter of Memory: Monica Jones, Philip Larkin & Myself.’ About Larkin: Newsletter of the Philip Larkin Society. [Sponsored by St. John's College, Oxford). 12 (Oct. 2001): 19 – 20 (ISSN: 1362-542X).
• ‘(Re)-acknowledging B. S. Johnson’s Radical Realism, or Re-publishing The Unfortunates.’ Critical Survey. 13:1 (2001): 37 – 61 (ISSN: 0011-1570).
• Forgotten Voices issue, [proceedings of ‘Forgotten Voices of the Twentieth Century Symposium.’ HJEAS: Hungarian Journal for English and American Studies. Philip Tew (ed.). 5, 2 (Autumn/Winter 1999), pp. 234 (ISSN 1218-7364).
• ‘Theorizing The Lexicon of Youth in Contemporary Irish Fiction: Mac Laverty, Bolger, and Doyle via Lefebvre’s Tenth Prelude.’ Special issue Essays on Contemporary Irish Literature and Culture in Honour of Brian Friel at Seventy. HJEAS; The Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies. 5, 1 (Spring/Summer 1999): 181 – 197 (ISSN 1218-7364).
• ‘Re-invoking Herbert Simmons: Man Walking on Eggshells of Radical Narrative.’ Forgotten Voices special issue. HJEAS: The Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies. Philip Tew (ed.). 5 (2) Autumn/Winter 1999, 109 – 126; (ISSN 1218-7364).
• ‘Journeying with Bachelard, Bourdieu and Others toward Bunting: Revisiting the Margins of Forgetfulness.’ Forgotten Voices special issue. HJEAS: The Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies. Philip Tew (ed.). 5 (2) Autumn/Winter 1999, 11 – 37 (ISSN 1218-7364).
• ‘Contextualizing B. S. Johnson (1933-73): the British novel’s forgotten voice of protest.’ The Anachronist. Eõtvõs Loránd University, Budapest. Winter 1998: 165 – 92 (ISSN 1210-2589).

Electronic / Online Publication:

• ‘B. S. Johnson.’ The Literary Encyclopaedia. Published 9 Mar 2003. http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2376
• ‘Teaching the Contemporary: Fiction.’ English Subject Centre project, Prof.. Philip Tew & Dr. Mark Addis. Completed & published April 2007. http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/projects/archive/contemp/contemp1.php.

External links

Recordings

Recordings from The Shanghai To Shepperton International Conference on J.G. Ballard (the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, Saturday 5th & Sunday 6 May 2007, organized by Dr. Jeanette Baxter):

• Tew’s opening Plenary Session: ‘The Violence of J.G. Ballard's Postmillennial Fiction: the Possibilities of Sacrifice, the Certainties of Trauma’. [26]

• A roundtable discussion featuring Tew, novelist Toby Litt [27] and leading scholar, Professor Roger Luckhurst [28] (Birkbeck, University of London). [29]

Reviews

• Review of B. S. Johnson: A critical reading [30]

• Review of The Contemporary British Novel: From John Fowles to Zadie Smith. [31]

• Review of The Contemporary British Novel: From John Fowles to Zadie Smith. [32]

Other

• Tew's views on the Booker shortlist: [33]