Jump to content

Angus Wilson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ashiyura (talk | contribs) at 17:36, 19 December 2017 (biographical details from sources indicated). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sir Angus Wilson
BornAngus Frank Johnstone-Wilson[1]
(1913-08-11)11 August 1913[2]
Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex[2]
Died31 May 1991(1991-05-31) (aged 77)[2]
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk[2]
Resting placeWest Suffolk Crematorium, Risby, St Edmundsbury Borough, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Alma materWestminster School, Merton College, Oxford
Period1949–1986
Notable worksAnglo-Saxon Attitudes (1956), The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot (1958)
Notable awardsJames Tait Black Memorial Prize (1958), CBE (1968), Knight Bachelor (1980)
PartnerTony Garrett

Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson, CBE (11 August 1913 – 31 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.[3]

Biography

Westminster School

Wilson was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England, to an English father, William Johnstone-Wilson, and South African mother, Maude (née Caney), of a wealthy merchant family of Durban.[4][5][6] Wilson's grandfather had served in a prestigious Scottish army regiment, and owned an estate in Dumfriesshire, where William Johnstone-Wilson (despite being born at Haymarket) was raised, and where he subsequently lived.[7][8]

Wilson was educated at Westminster School and Merton College, Oxford,[9] and in 1937 became a librarian in the British Museum's Department of Printed Books, working on the new General Catalogue. Previous employment included tutoring, catering, and co-managing a restaurant with his brother.[10]

During World War II, he worked in the Naval section at the code-breaking establishment, Bletchley Park, translating Italian Naval codes. A wearer of large, brightly coloured bow-ties, he was one of the "famous homosexuals" at Bletchley. The work situation was stressful and led to a nervous breakdown, for which he was treated by Rolf-Werner Kosterlitz. A Wren, Dorothy Robertson, was taught traffic analysis by him and another instructor. She recalled him as: [11]

a brilliant young homosexual .... He used to mince into the room wearing, in those days, outrageous clothes in all colours; he chain-smoked; his nails were bitten down to the quick and he had a rather hysterical laugh.

He returned to the Museum after the end of the War, and it was there that he met Tony Garrett (born 1929), who was to be his companion for the rest of his life.

Wilson's first publication was a collection of short stories, The Wrong Set (1949), followed quickly by the daring novel Hemlock and After, which was a great success, prompting invitations to lecture in Europe.[12]

He worked as a reviewer, and in 1955 he resigned from the British Museum to write full-time (although his financial situation did not justify doing so) and moved to Suffolk.

He was instrumental in getting Colin Wilson's first novel published in 1956[13] and from 1957 he gave lectures further afield, in Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and the USA. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1968, and received many literary honours in succeeding years. He was knighted in 1980, and was President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1982 to 1988. His remaining years were affected by ill health, and he died of a stroke at a nursing home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 31 May 1991, aged 77.[2]

His writing, which has a strongly satirical vein, expresses his concern with preserving a liberal humanistic outlook in the face of fashionable doctrinaire temptations. Several of his works were adapted for television. He was Professor of English Literature at the University of East Anglia from 1966 to 1978,[6] and jointly helped to establish their creative writing course at masters level in 1970,[14] which was then a groundbreaking initiative in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography

Novels

Short story collections

  • The Wrong Set (1949)
  • Such Darling Dodos (1950)
  • A Bit Off the Map (1957)
  • Death Dance (selected stories, 1969)

Play

  • The Mulberry Bush (1955)

Others

  • For Whom the Cloche Tolls: a Scrapbook of the Twenties (1953)
  • The Wild Garden or Speaking of Writing (1963)
  • The World of Charles Dickens (1970)
  • The Naughty Nineties (1976)
  • The Strange Ride of Rudyard Kipling: His Life and Works (1977)
  • Diversity and Depth in Fiction: Selected Critical Writings of Angus Wilson (1983)
  • Reflections In A Writer's Eye: travel pieces by Angus Wilson (1986)

References

  1. ^ Guide to the Angus Wilson Papers. Biographical Note. The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa, accessed 8 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Sir Angus Wilson". The Times. 3 June 1991. p. 16. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  3. ^ MacKay, Marina (8 January 2001). "Sir Angus Wilson". The Literary Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Angus Wilson, Averil Gardner, Twayne Publishers, 1985, pg 4
  5. ^ Angus Wilson, Jay L. Halio, Oliver & Boyd, 1964, pg 1
  6. ^ a b "WILSON, Sir Angus (Frank Johnstone)". Who Was Who. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  7. ^ Angus Wilson, Averil Gardner, Twayne Publishers, 1985, pg 4
  8. ^ Angus Wilson, Jay L. Halio, Oliver & Boyd, 1964, pg 1
  9. ^ Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. pp. 239–240.
  10. ^ Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, vol. 2, R. Reginald, Mary A. Burgess, Douglas Menville, 1979, pg 1130
  11. ^ Smith, Michael (2000). The Emperor’s Codes: Bletchley Park and the breaking of Japan’s secret ciphers. London: Bantam Press. p. 210. ISBN 0593 046412.
  12. ^ Drabble, Margaret (3 May 2008). "Back – due to popular demand: Margaret Drabble on Hemlock and After, Anglo-Saxon Attitudes and No Laughing Matter by Angus Wilson". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  13. ^ Desert Island Discs Archive: 1976-1980
  14. ^ Liukkonen, Petri. "Angus Wilson". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 28 September 2006. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Bibliography

  • Conradi, Peter, Isobel Armstrong and Bryan Loughrey (editors), "Angus Wilson", Northcote House, 1997, ISBN 0-7463-0803-5.
  • Drabble, Margaret. Angus Wilson: A Biography.London: Secker & Warburg, 1995. ISBN 0-436-20038-4 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-436-20271-9 (Paperback)
  • Halio, Jay, "Angus Wilson", Oliver & Boyd, London, 1964.
  • Stape, John Henry and Anne N. Thomas. Angus Wilson: A Bibliography 1947–1987. London & New York: Mansell Publishing, 1988. ISBN 0-7201-1872-7.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Angus Wilson.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Angus_Wilson&oldid=816159112"