Walter Ernest Allen (23 February 1911 – 28 February 1995) was an English literary critic and novelist and one of the Birmingham Group of authors. He is best known for his classic study ''The English Novel: a Short Critical History'' (1951).

Life and career

Allen was born in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

, Birmingham; he drew on his working-class roots for ''All in a Lifetime'' (1959), generally considered his best novel. He was educated at King Edward's Grammar School and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, graduating in 1932—his friends at that period included Henry Reed and

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet, playwright and producer for the BBC. Known for its exploration of introspection, empiricism, and belonging, his poetic work is now ranked among the twentieth ...

. He taught and took numerous temporary academic positions. In 1935, he was a Visiting Lecturer in English at the University of Iowa, Iowa City; from 1955 to 1956 he was visiting professor of English at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; from 1963 to 1964 he was visiting professor of English, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, and in 1967 he was at University of Kansas, Lawrence, and University of Washington, Seattle. He also worked in journalism, being at one time literary editor of the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

''; and was a broadcaster. In 1967 he took a position as Professor of English Studies at the

New University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially a ...

. Allen published many novels early in his career mostly dealing with the life of the working class in England. ''As I Walked Down New Grub Street'' which accounts his meetings with prominent literary figures was published in 1982. After a significant break from fiction-writing for 27 years he published ''Get Out Early'' in 1986. He was known as an editor of

George Gissing George Robert Gissing ( ; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. In the 1890s he was considered one of the three greatest novelists in England, and by the 1940s he had been ...

. He wrote some poetry, which appeared in

John Lehmann Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English publisher, poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals '' New Writing'' and ''The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited. Early ...

's publications in the 1940s. He left much writing in manuscript. He died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Works

Novels

*''Innocence is Drowned'' (1938) *''Blind Man's Ditch'' (1939) *''Living Space'' (1940) *''The Black Country'' (1946) *''Rogue Elephant'' (1946) *''Dead Man Over All'' (1950) *''All in a Lifetime'' (1959) .S. title: ''Three Score and Ten''*''Get Out Early'' (1986) *''Accosting Profiles'' (1989)

Short stories

*''The Festive Baked-Potato Cart'' (1948)

Criticism

*''Writers on Writing'' (1948), editor *''Reading a Novel'' (1949) *''Arnold Bennett'' (1949) The English Novelists series *''Joyce Cary'' (1953) *''The English Novel; a Short Critical History'' (1954) *''The Novel Today'' (1955) *''Six Great Novelists'' (1955) *''George Eliot'' (1964) *''Tradition and Dream: The English and American Novel from the Twenties to Our Time'' (1964) *''The Urgent West'' (1969) *''The Short Story in English'' (1981)

Autobiography

*''As I Walked Down New Grub Street'' (1981)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Walter 1911 births 1995 deaths People educated at King Edward VI Aston School English literary critics Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of Ulster University People from Aston Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century English novelists