Dennis Joseph Enright

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(11 March 1920 – 31 December 2002) was a British academic, poet, novelist and critic. He authored ''Academic Year'' (1955), ''Memoirs of a Mendicant Professor'' (1969) and a wide range of essays, reviews, anthologies, children's books and poems.

Life

Enright was born in

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, to Irish postman father George Enright - a former soldier, "obliged in early life to enlist... as the result of the premature death of his father, a

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...

" - and Welsh chapel-goer mother Grace (née Cleaver); he wrote about his "working-class, Black Country upbringing". Enright stated in his poem "Anglo-Irish" that his "father claimed to be descended from a king called Brian Boru, an ancient hero of Ireland..." but his "mother said that all Irishmen claimed descent from kings but the truth was they were Catholics." His early life was characterised by poverty, the loss of his father, and relationship with his "overworked mother".D. J. Enright- Poet of Humanism, William Walsh, Cambridge University Press, 1974, p. 1 He was educated at Leamington College and

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

. After graduating he held a number of academic posts outside the United Kingdom: in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, Japan,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and notably in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

(from 1960). He at times attributed his lack of success in finding a post closer to home to writing for ''

Scrutiny Scrutiny (French: ''scrutin''; Late Latin: ''scrutinium''; from ''scrutari'', meaning "those who search through piles of rubbish in the hope of finding something of value" and originally from the Latin "scruta," meaning "broken things, rags, or ...

'' and his short association with

F. R. Leavis Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis (14 July 1895 – 14 April 1978) was an English literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for much of his career at Downing College, Cambridge, and later at the University of York. Leavis ra ...

; whose influence he mainly and early, but not entirely, rejected. As a poet he was identified with

the Movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movemen ...

. His 1955

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

, ''Poets of the 1950s'', served to delineate the group of British poets in question – albeit somewhat remotely and retrospectively, since he was abroad and it was not as prominent as the

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...

collection ''

New Lines The Movement was a term coined in 1954 by J. D. Scott, literary editor of ''The Spectator'', to describe a group of writers including Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis, Donald Davie, D. J. Enright, John Wain, Elizabeth Jennings, Thom Gunn and Robe ...

'' of the following year. Returning to London in 1970, he edited ''

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 *E ...

'' magazine, with

Melvin J. Lasky Melvin Jonah Lasky (15 January 1920 – 19 May 2004) was an American journalist, intellectual, and member of the anti-Communist left. He founded the German journal '' Der Monat'' in 1948 and, from 1958 to 1991, edited ''Encounter'', one of many ...

, for two years. He subsequently worked in publishing.

The "Enright Affair"

Enright gained some notoriety in Singapore after his inaugural lecture at the

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

on 17 November 1960, titled "Robert Graves and the Decline of Modernism". His introductory remarks on the state of culture in Singapore were the subject of a ''

Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establishe ...

'' article. "'Hands Off' Challenge to 'Culture Vultures'", the next day. Among other things, he stated that it was important for

and

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

to remain "culturally open", that culture was something to be left for the people to build up, and that for the government to institute "a

sarong A sarong or sarung () is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often has woven plaid o ...

culture, complete with

pantun ''Pantun'' ( Jawi: ) is a Malay oral poetic form used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It is generally consists of even-numbered lines and based on ABAB rhyming schemes. The shortest consists of two lines better known as the in Malay, ...

competitions and so forth" was futile. Some quotes include:

Art does not begin in a test-tube, it does not take its origin in good sentiments and clean-shaven, upstanding young thoughts.

Leave the people free to make their own mistakes, to suffer and to discover. Authority must leave us to fight even that deadly battle over whether or not to enter a place of entertainment wherein lurks a juke-box, and whether or not to slip a coin into the machine.

The following day, Enright was summoned by the Ministry for Labour and Law regarding his foreigner work permit, and was handed a letter by the Minister for Culture,

S. Rajaratnam Sinnathamby Rajaratnam ( ta, சின்னத்தம்பி ராஜரத்னம்; 25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006), better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapo ...

, which had also been released to the press. The letter admonished Enright for "involv ng imselfin political affairs which are the concern of local people", not "visitors, including mendicant professors", and said that the government " asno time for asinine sneers by passing aliens about the futility of 'sarong culture complete with pantun competitions' particularly when it comes from beatnik professors". There was also some criticism that Enright had been insensitive towards Malays and their so-called "sarong culture". With some mediation from the Academic Staff Association of the university, it was agreed that to put the matter to rest, Enright would write a letter of apology and clarification, the government would reply, and both were to be printed in the newspapers. Although the affair was "essentially dead" after that, according to Enright, it would still be brought up periodically in discussions of local culture and academic freedom. Enright gave his account of the incident in ''Memoirs of a Mendicant Professor'' (pp. 124–151).

Timeline

* 11 March 1920: Born in Warwickshire * 1947–50: Lecturer in English,

University of Alexandria Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

* 1950–53: Organising Tutor, Extra-Mural Department,

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

* 1953–56: Visiting Professor,

Konan University is a university on the slopes of Mount Rokkō in Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan. A private university with approximately 10,000 students, it offers a wide variety of programs to Japanese students, as well as an international exchange program throu ...

, Japan * 1956–67: Visiting Lecturer,

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

* 1967–69: British Council Professor,

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...

* 1960–70: Professor of English,

* 1970–72: Co-Editor, ''Encounter'' * 1974–82: Director, Chatto & Windus * 1975–80: Honorary Professor of English,

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

* 1981:

Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...

* 1991:

* 31 December 2002: Died in London

Bibliography

Poetry

Collections * ''The Laughing Hyena and other poems'' (1953) * ''Bread Rather than Blossoms'' (1956), poems * ''The Year of the Monkey'' (1956), poems * ''Some Men Are Brothers'' (1960), poems * ''Addictions'' (1962), poems * ''The Old Adam'' (1965) * ''Selected Poems'' (1968) * ''Unlawful Assembly'' (1968) * ''Daughters of Earth'' (1972), poems * ''Foreign Devils'' (1972), poems * ''The Terrible Shears – Scenes from a Twenties Childhood'' (1973) * ''Sad Ires'' (1975), poems * ''Paradise Illustrated'' (1978), poems (translated into Dutch by

C. Buddingh' Cornelis "Kees" Buddingh' (7 August 1918 – 24 November 1985) was a Dutch poet, TV-presenter, translator. Amongst others he translated ''A Clockwork Orange'' and the complete works of William Shakespeare into Dutch. His son Wiebe Buddingh‘ l ...

in 1982 as ''Het paradijs in beeld'' in a bilingual edition) * ''A Faust Book'' (1979), poems * ''Collected Poems'' (1981) * ''Collected Poems 1987'' * ''Selected Poems 1990'', Oxford * ''Under the Circumstances: Poems and Prose'' (1991) * ''Old Men and Comets'' (1993) poems * ''Collected Poems: 1948–1998'' (1998) Anthologies (edited) * ''Poets of the 1950s'' (1955) * ''The Poetry of Living Japan'' (1958), editor with Takamichi Ninomiya * ''A Choice of Milton's Verse'' (1975) editor * ''Penguin Modern Poets 26'' (1975) with

Dannie Abse Daniel Abse CBE FRSL (22 September 1923 – 28 September 2014) was a Welsh poet and physician. His poetry won him many awards. As a medic, he worked in a chest clinic for over 30 years. Early years Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales, as the younge ...

and

Michael Longley Michael Longley, (born 27 July 1939, Belfast, Northern Ireland), is an Anglo-Irish poet. Life and career One of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents, Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast A ...

* '' The Oxford Book of Contemporary Verse 1945–1980'' (1980), editor List of poems * ''In the Basilica of the Annunciation (1971),'' broadsheet poem * ''The Rebel'' (1974), poem * ''Walking in the Harz Mountains, Faust Senses the Presence of God'' (1979), poem

Novels

* ''Academic Year'' (1955) * ''Heaven Knows Where'' (1957) * ''Insufficient Poppy'' (1960) * ''The Joke Shop'' (1976), novel * ''Wild Ghost Chase'' (1978), novel * ''Beyond Land's End'' (1979), novel

Literary criticism, memoirs and general anthologies

* ''A Commentary on Goethe's Faust'' (1949), translated into Polish by

Bohdan Zadura Bohdan Zadura (born 18 February 1945 in Puławy) is a Polish poet, translator and literary critic. Biography Zadura debuted in 1962 in "Kamena". He was editor of the Lublin literary magazine ":pl:Akcent (czasopismo), Akcent", from 2004 editor o ...

:''Ksiega Fausta'', Wydawnictwo Lubelskie, Lublin 1984. * ''The World of Dew: Aspects of Living Japan'' (1955) * ''The Apothecary's Shop'' (1957) * ''Robert Graves and the Decline of Modernism'' (1960) * ''English Critical Texts 16th Century to 20th Century'' (1963), editor with Ernst de Chickera * ''Conspirators and Poets'' (1966) * ''Memoirs of a Mendicant Professor'' (1969) * ''Shakespeare and the Students'' (1970) * ''Man is an Onion: Reviews and Essays'' (1972) * ''Rhyme times rhyme'' (1974) * ''A Mania for Sentences: Essays on G. Grass, H. Boll, Frisch, Flaubert & Others'' (1983) * ''Fair of Speech: The Uses of Euphemism'' (1985), editor * ''Instant Chronicles: A Life'' (1985) * ''The Oxford Book of Death'' (1985), editor * ''The Alluring Problem – An Essay on Irony'' (1986) * ''Fields of Vision: Essays on Literature, Language, and Television'' (1988) * ''Ill at Ease: Writers on Ailments Real and Imagined'' (1989), editor * ''The Faber Book of Fevers and Frets'' (1989), editor * ''Oxford Book of Friendship'' (1991), editor with David Rawlinson * ''The Way of The Cat'' (1992) * ''The Oxford Book of the Supernatural'' (1994), editor * ''Interplay: A Kind of Commonplace Book'' (1995) * ''Telling Tales'' (1999) * ''Play Resumed: A Journal'' * ''Signs and Wonders: Selected Essays'' (2001) * ''Injury Time'' (2003)

Notes

References

* William Walsh (1974): ''D. J. Enright: Poet of Humanism'', Cambridge University Press, * Jacqueline Simms (editor; 1990). ''Life By Other Means. Essays on D. J. Enright'', Oxford University Press,

External links

"D.J. Enright"
Fellows Remembered,

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, elec ...

* (previous page of browse report mainly, as 'Enright, D. J. (Dennis Joseph), 1920–' without '2002')
"D.J. Enright"
The Rebel Analysis, (W3train – A Project of Hajvery Institute) {{DEFAULTSORT:Enright, Dennis Joseph 1920 births 2002 deaths 20th-century English novelists Academics of the University of Warwick English literary critics English male novelists English male poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Meanjin people National University of Singapore faculty Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Leamington Spa Translators of Marcel Proust