David Holbrook
David Kenneth Holbrook was a prominent English writer, born on January 9, 1923, in Norwich, England. He had a diverse and impactful career that spanned various fields, including poetry, fiction, and literary criticism. Holbrook studied English at Downing College, Cambridge, before serving in the British Army during World War II. His experiences during the war, particularly surrounding the D-Day invasion, influenced his first novel, "Flesh Wounds," published in 1966.
In addition to his writing, Holbrook was actively involved in education, teaching English and working with the Workers' Educational Association. He held various academic positions, including a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and a lecturer at Jesus College. His literary contributions include poetry collections such as "Imaginings" and "Bringing Everything Home," alongside nonfiction works focusing on education. Holbrook's work has been recognized within the literary community, and he was a Fellow of the English Association. His legacy includes a collection of essays dedicated to his influence, showcasing the breadth of his writing and thought.
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David Holbrook
Writer
- Born: January 9, 1923
- Birthplace: Norwich, England
- Died: August 1, 2011
Biography
Known for his publications in several fields, David Kenneth Holbrook has had a prolific and distinguished career as a writer. Born in Norwich, England, on January 9, 1923, the son of Kenneth Redvers and Elsie Grimmer Holbrook, Holbrook studied English with F. R. Leavis at Downing College, Cambridge, but left to join the East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry in the British Army, in 1942. After World War II ended in 1945, he returned to Cambridge and completed his B.A. degree in 1947. His first novel, Flesh Wounds (1966), was based on his wartime experiences, especially recalling the D-Day invasion.
A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Holbrook coedited the Communist magazine Our Time before becoming a teacher for the Workers’ Educational Association. On April 23, 1949, he married Margot Davies-Jones, with whom he subsequently had two daughters and two sons. In the same year he married, Holbrook began teaching at a secondary school in Felixstowe, Suffolk; he also tutored at Cambridgeshire Village College in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, from 1954 to 1961. During this time, he began writing full time. His first collection of poetry, Imaginings, was published in 1961, as was his first nonfiction work, English for Maturity, a guide for secondary English teachers based on his career at Bassingbourn.
Holbrook then left these teaching and tutoring positions and became a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, also in 1961. He left that position in 1965; in 1968 he was appointed college lecturer in English for Jesus College. Further academic appointments followed: Holbrook was a writer-in-residence at Dartington Hall in Devon from 1971 to 1973 and the assistant director of English studies at Downing College, Cambridge, from 1973 to 1975. His Selected Poems, 1961-1978 appeared in 1980, and Holbrook became an Emeritus Fellow of Downing College in 1989.
Throughout his long writing career, Holbrook brought out many books in varied fields besides poetry. His novels tended to be fictionalized accounts of his family’s history; he wrote several books on education, the profession of teaching English in particular; and he published numerous works of literary criticism. Holbrook’s collection of poetry Bringing Everything Home, was published in 1999, and a novel, Bad Trip in a Tired Whale, in 2001. Holbrook is a Fellow of the English Association; a collection of essays in his honor, Powers of Being: David Holbrook and His Work, was published in 1995.