Roland Camberton (1921–1965) was a British writer whose real name was Henry Cohen. He won the 1951

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

, given to authors under the age of 35, for his novel ''Scamp''. The book had earlier received a merciless review in 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 ...

'' upon publication in late 1950:

The book is written from the standpoint of the "bum": that bearded and corduroyed figure who may be seen crouching over a half of bitter in the corner of a Bloomsbury "pub"; it is ostensibly concerned with the rise and fall of a short-lived literary review, but Mr. Camberton, who appears to be devoid of any narrative gift, makes this an excuse for dragging in disconnectedly and to little apparent purpose a series of thinly disguised local or literary celebrities. Πο

The following year, he published ''Rain on the Pavements''. A novel reflecting

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

life in Hackney during the thirties, this book received a much more positive review (this one from

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons, pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was born ...

). Camberton then vanished off the literary map. He does not appear to have published any books after 1951. Indeed, few details of his life are available, and there is no mention of him whatsoever in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' archives. The write
Iain Sinclair
has described him in an interview as a "Hackney writer". He did, indeed, attend

Hackney Downs School Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy. History ...

(formerly The Grocers' Company's School) until 1938 and two poems by him were published in the School Magazine (The Review). He was buried under his birth name, Henry Cohen, in Rainham Jewish Cemetery in 1965. In August 200
Iain Sinclair
wrote a long piece on Camberton for ''The Guardian'' in which he reveals much of his research, including the story of Cohen's early death and the existence of a daughter. Both ''Scamp'' and ''Rain on the Pavements'' were republished by New London Editions in 2010 with reproductions of the original covers by the artist John Minton. In 2021, the 'TLS' in a retrospective said, "he vanished off the literary map and died, forgotten, in the mid-1960s, aged just forty-four. His centenary this month is a good opportunity to reassess this unfairly neglected writer.", "A lost generation", David Herman, 'Times Literary Supplement', no. 6165, May 28, 2021, page 21.

References

External links

*Iain Sinclai
"Man in a Macintosh"
''The Guardian'', 30 August 2008

- Society of Authors page 1921 births 1965 deaths 20th-century British novelists British male novelists People educated at Hackney Downs School 20th-century British male writers {{UK-novelist-stub