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Anthony Simon Thwaite (23 June 1930 – 22 April 2021) was an English poet and critic, widely known as the editor of his friend
Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...
's collected poems and letters.


Early years and education

Born in
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, England, to Yorkshire parents, Thwaite at the age of 10 crossed the Atlantic alone to spend the war years in and around Washington D.C. with an aunt and uncle. On
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
in 1944 he was on his way home. At
Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...
, Bath, a teacher, praising his Anglo-Saxon type riddles, encouraged him to think he was a poet.
National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...
near Leptis Magna in
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, encouraged him further, both as a poet and as an amateur archaeologist (he eventually became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries). Thwaite came to early prominence as a poet. While still an undergraduate at
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
, he published a pamphlet with the
Fantasy Press Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. ...
in a series that included the early work of Larkin,
Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social ...
and Elizabeth Jennings. Poems began to appear in '' The Listener'', the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' and ''
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'', and with his first book reviews and a series of undergraduate articles, in ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...
''. At Oxford, he edited the weekly magazine ''
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
'', became president of the
Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...
and met his wife,
Ann Thwaite Ann Thwaite (born 4 October 1932) is a British writer who is the author of five major biographies. ''AA Milne: His Life'' was the Whitbread Biography of the Year, 1990. ''Edmund Gosse: A Literary Landscape'' (Duff Cooper Prize, 1985) was describe ...
, who became a biographer. In 1955, they went by ship to teach in Japan for two years, where their first child was born and Thwaite's first book of poems was published, a tribute from his postgraduate students at the
University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...
. It was while he was there that the Marvell Press published Larkin's ''The Less Deceived'' and accepted the manuscript of his own ''Home Truths''.


Career

Thwaite returned to take up a graduate traineeship at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. He had eight years there, first as a radio producer (sharing at one stage an office with
Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely ...
), then as Literary Editor of ''The Listener''. In 1965, he took two years unpaid leave to return to North Africa, this time as assistant professor at the
University of Libya The University of Libya ( ar, الجامعة الليبية) was a public university based in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya. The university was established in 1955 and disestablished in 1973, when its colleges were split into two new universities ...
in Benghazi and with his wife and four daughters. A brief return to the BBC in 1967 ended when Thwaite was invited to be Literary Editor of the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', where his assistants were successively
Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin (née Delavenay; born 20 June 1933) is an English journalist and biographer, known for her biographies of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Pepys, Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Early life Tomalin was born Claire Dela ...
and
James Fenton James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...
. In 1968 he won the Richard Hillary Memorial Prize for The Stones of Emptiness, a collection of poems written during these years. His subsequent career has included the following positions: Henfield Writing Fellow at the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
, Visiting Professor at
Kuwait University Kuwait University ( ar, جامعة الكويت, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. History Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29 ...
, Japan Foundation Fellowship at the University of Tokyo (1985–1986), co-editor of ''
Encounter Encounter or Encounters may refer to: Film *''Encounter'', a 1997 Indian film by Nimmala Shankar * ''Encounter'' (2013 film), a Bengali film * ''Encounter'' (2018 film), an American sci-fi film * ''Encounter'' (2021 film), a British sci-fi film * ...
'' magazine (1973–1985), Poet-in-Residence at
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
, Nashville, Tennessee. He also spent many years as an editor of the Poetry list at
Secker and Warburg Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...
, and later as an editorial director of
André Deutsch André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentis ...
. Thwaite judged many prizes and literary competitions, sat on literature advisory committees (the Arts Council and
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
), presented numerous radio programmes and 'Writers World' on BBC2. In 1986. he was chairman of the
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
judges. He edited selections (
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...
, R. S. Thomas, Skelton), and anthologies, including ''Six Centuries of Verse'', based on the
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
/
Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...
16-part series with his narration spoken by the actor
John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...
. ''The English Poets, from Chaucer to Edward Thomas'' (1974) was based on a radio series he presented with his friend the Australian poet, Peter Porter. Thwaite was a regular book reviewer for ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' and later for ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid ...
'' and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''. He wrote an introduction to contemporary English poetry, which went into many editions and prepared two travelling exhibitions for the British Council. He himself travelled all over the world, reading his own poems and talking about other people's, from New Zealand to Argentina and Baghdad to Texas. He represented 'Literature' at British Week in Novosibirsk in Siberia and toured China with
Malcolm Bradbury Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic. Life Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 with ...
at the invitation of their governments. He has returned to Japan many times; the Penguin Book of Japanese Verse, which he edited with Geoffrey Bownas, is still in print. The
National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
, has three photographic portraits of Thwaite in its collection, including a double portrait with his wife,
Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...
. Thwaite had two honorary doctorates, from
University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...
and from the University of East Anglia, near where he lived with his wife for 45 years. He was a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...
and was appointed an OBE for services to poetry in the
1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...
. His ''Late Poems'' and ''Going Out'' appeared after the ''Collected Poems''. At the launch of his last (20th) book of poems, when he was 85, the distinguished audience (including
Alan Hollinghurst Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award, the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2004 Booker Prize. Early life and education Ho ...
, David Lodge,
P. J. Kavanagh P. J. Kavanagh FRSL (6 January 1931 – 26 August 2015) was an English poet, lecturer, actor, broadcaster and columnist. His father was the ''ITMA'' scriptwriter Ted Kavanagh. Life Patrick Joseph Kavanagh worked as a Butlin's Redcoat, th ...
and
Penelope Lively Dame Penelope Margaret Lively (née Low; born 17 March 1933) is a British writer of fiction for both children and adults. Lively has won both the Booker Prize (''Moon Tiger'', 1987) and the Carnegie Medal for British children's books ('' Th ...
) gave some indication of the esteem in which he is held by his fellow writers. Thwaite died on 22 April 2021 at the age of 90."Anthony Thwaite obituary"
''The Times'', 22 April 1921.


Appraisal of his work

Praise for Thwaite's poetry came from many fellow writers. The novelist
Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...
commended him: "Very intelligent, also witty, with a wide stretch of subject matter and a great boldness." The playwright and novelist
Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce '' Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the M ...
wrote, "I think of all the living poets whose work I know Anthony Thwaite speaks to me most strongly and intimately. He writes with simplicity and precision about difficult and ambiguous things....the vastness and richness of the past, the elusiveness of the present - and the heroic persistence of our efforts to fix some trace of all this." Thwaite was pleased to be called "a fine comic poet" by Sean O'Brien. One of his best light poems was included by
Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Uni ...
in his ''Oxford Book of English Verse'', and Thwaite is also well represented in Larkin's '' Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Verse''.
Tobias Hill Tobias Hill (born 30 March 1970 in London, England) is a British poet, essayist, writer of short stories and novelist. Life Tobias Hill was born in Kentish Town, in North London, to parents of German Jewish and English extraction: his maternal ...
called him "a master of domestic disquiet" in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'', reviewing his ''Collected Poems'' (2007). He wrote: "This is spectacular poetry. It deserves to be read: good readers deserve to read it."


Works

*''Anthony Thwaite'' (Fantasy Press, 1953). Fantasy Poets 17 *''
Oxford Poetry ''Oxford Poetry'' is a literary magazine based in Oxford, England. It is currently edited by Luke Allan. The magazine is published by Partus Press. Founded in 1910 by Basil Blackwell, its editors have included Dorothy L. Sayers, Aldous Huxley ...
1954'' (1954), editor with Jonathan Price *''Poems'' (1957). Privately printed in Tokyo *''Essays on Contemporary English Poetry'' (1957) *''Home Truths'' (1957), poems *''Contemporary English Poetry - An Introduction'' (1961) *''New Poems 1961: A P.E.N Anthology of Contemporary Poetry'' (1961), editor with
Hilary Corke Hilary Topham Corke (12 July 1921 – 3 September 2001) was an English writer, composer and mineralogist. Corke was born in Malvern, Worcestershire. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War II. His poems appeared in ''Poetry Now'' (1 ...
and
William Plomer William Charles Franklyn Plomer (10 December 1903 – 20 September 1973) was a South African and British novelist, poet and literary editor. He also wrote a series of librettos for Benjamin Britten. He wrote some of his poetry under the pseud ...
*''The Owl in the Tree'' (1963), poems *''Japan in Color'' (1967) *''The Stones of Emptiness: Poems 1963-66'' (1967) *''Deserts of Hesperides: an Experience in Libya'' (1969) *''At Dunkeswell Abbey'' (1970), broadside poem *''Penguin Modern Poets 18'' (1970), with A. Alvarez and
Roy Fuller Roy Broadbent Fuller CBE (11 February 1912 – 27 September 1991) was an English writer, known mostly as a poet. He was born at Failsworth, Lancashire to lower-middle-class parents Leopold Charles Fuller and his wife Nellie (1888–1949; née B ...
*''Points'' (1972) *''Inscriptions, Poems 1967–72'' (1973) *''Jack'' (1973) poem *''Poetry Today 1960-1973'' (1973) *''Roloff Beny In Italy'' (1974), with Peter Porter,
Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...
*''New Confessions'' (1974), poems *''The English Poets - From Chaucer to Edward Thomas'' (1974), with Peter Porter *''Beyond the Inhabited World: Roman Britain'' (1977) *''A Portion for Foxes'' (1977), poems *''Twelve Poems'' (1978) *''Twentieth Century English Poetry : An Introduction'' (1978) *''New Poetry 4'' (1978), Arts Council anthology, editor with
Fleur Adcock Fleur Adcock (born 10 February 1934) is a New Zealand poet and editor, of English and Northern Irish ancestry, who has lived much of her life in England. She is well-represented in New Zealand poetry anthologies, was awarded an honorary doct ...
*''Victorian Voices'' (1980), poems *''Odyssey : Mirror of the Mediterranean'' (1981) *'' Larkin at Sixty'' (1982) editor *''The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse'' (1983), editor with Geoffrey Bownas *''Telling Tales'' (1983) *''Poems 1953–1983'' (1984) *''Six Centuries of Verse'' (1984), editor *''Poetry Today : A Critical Guide to British Poetry 1960–1984'' (1985) *''Letter from Tokyo'' (1987) *' Collected Poems – Philip Larkin'' (The Marvell Press, Faber & Faber, 1988), editor *''Fourteen Poems Collected Poems of Philip Larkin'' (1989), editor *'' Selected Letters of Philip Larkin, 1940–1985'' (1992), editor *''Poetry Today: A critical guide to British poetry 1960–1995'' (1996) *''R. S. Thomas - Everyman's Poetry'' (1996), editor *''Selected Poems 1956–1996'' (1997) *''Longfellow'' (1997) editor *''Anthony Thwaite in Conversation'' (1999), with Peter Dale and Ian Hamilton *''Paeans for Peter Porter'' (1999), editor *''High Windows by Philip Larkin'' (2000), editor *''A Different Country'' (
Enitharmon Press Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists’ books, poetry, limited editions and original prints. The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented ...
2000), poems *''
George MacBeth George Mann MacBeth (19 January 1932 – 16 February 1992) was a Scottish poet and novelist. Biography George MacBeth was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. When he was three, his family moved to Sheffield in England. He was educated in Sh ...
– Selected Poems'' (2002), editor *''Further Requirements: Interviews, Broadcasts, Statements and Book Reviews, 1952–85, by Philip Larkin'' (2002), editor *''A Move in the Weather: Poems 1994–2002'' (
Enitharmon Press Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists’ books, poetry, limited editions and original prints. The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented ...
, 2003) *'' Collected Poems – Philip Larkin'' (2003), editor *''Collected Poems'' (
Enitharmon Press Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists’ books, poetry, limited editions and original prints. The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented ...
, 2007) *''Philip Larkin: Letters to Monica'' (Faber & Faber,
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...
, 2010), editor * Going Out (Enitharmon Press, 2015)


References

*Hans Osterwalder (1991), ''British Poetry Between the Movement and Modernism: Anthony Thwaite and Philip Larkin'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Thwaite, Anthony 1930 births 2021 deaths English literary critics People educated at Kingswood School, Bath People from Chester Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford BBC radio producers British literary editors University of Tokyo faculty Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English male poets Officers of the Order of the British Empire English male non-fiction writers Military personnel from Chester British military personnel