Philip Dennis Hobsbaum (29 June 1932 – 28 June 2005) was a British teacher,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and critic.

Life

Hobsbaum was born into a Polish

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish family in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and brought up in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, where he attended Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School. He read English at

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 ...

, where he was taught and heavily influenced by

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 ...

. At Cambridge he took over the editing of the magazine ''delta'' from

Peter Redgrove Peter William Redgrove (2 January 1932 – 16 June 2003) was a British poet, who also wrote prose, novels and plays with his second wife Penelope Shuttle. Life and career Redgrove was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He was educated at Tau ...

. After Cambridge, he worked as a school teacher in London from 1955 to 1959, when he moved to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

to study for a PhD under

William Empson Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his first ...

. In 1962 he took up an academic position at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, and moved again in 1966, to take up a post in the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He was awarded a personal chair in 1985, and retired from the University in 1997; he remained in Glasgow until his death in 2005.

The Group(s)

Hobsbaum's most direct impact on literature was as the animating force behind ''

The Group The Group may refer to: Film and television * ''The Group'' (Australian TV series), 1971 situation comedy produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 * ''The Group'' (Canadian TV series), 1968–70 music variety on CBC Television * ''The Group ...

'', a sequence of writing workshops in Cambridge, London,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, in turn. Although there was some slight overlap in personnel 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 ...

'', the various incarnations of the Group had a more concrete existence and a more practical focus. The Cambridge Group was initially concerned with the oral performance of poetry, but soon turned into an exercise in

practical criticism Ivor Armstrong Richards CH (26 February 1893 – 7 September 1979), known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, poet, and rhetorician. His work contributed to the foundations of the New Criticism, a formalist moveme ...

and mutual support for a network of poets. This Group relocated to London when Hobsbaum moved there in 1955, becoming ''The Group'', and continuing until 1965, chaired by

Edward Lucie-Smith John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...

after Hobsbaum's departure for Sheffield. On arriving in Sheffield (c.1959-1962) he immediately organized the "Writers' Group" for the university's undergraduates and started "Poetry from Sheffield", a magazine for their poetry but which also had poems by George McBeth, Peter Redgrove and Francis Berry. He wrote about the group in ''The Times Literary Supplement'', published on 14 April 1961. Barry Fox took over the chair when Hobsbaum left to concentrate on his thesis. In Belfast (1962–1966), Hobsbaum organised a new weekly discussion group, which became known as

The Belfast Group The Belfast Group was a poets' workshop which was organized by Philip Hobsbaum when he moved to Belfast in October 1963 to lecture in English at Queen's University. As with Hobsbaum's earlier discussion group in London, known as The Group, the ...

and included the emerging authors John Bond,

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

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 ...

Derek Mahon Derek Mahon (23 November 1941 – 1 October 2020) was an Irish poet. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland but lived in a number of cities around the world. At his death it was noted that his, "influence in the Irish poetry community, lite ...

, Stewart Parker and

Bernard MacLaverty Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an Irish fiction writer and novelist. His novels include ''Cal'' and ''Grace Notes''. He has written five books of short stories. Biography ''MacLaverty'' was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a ...

. In Glasgow, Hobsbaum became once again the nucleus of a group of new and distinctive authors, including

Alasdair Gray Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...

Liz Lochhead Liz Lochhead Hon FRSE (born 26 December 1947) is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland, and served as Poet Laureate for Glasgow between 2005 and 2011. E ...

James Kelman James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His novel '' A Disaffection'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won ...

, Tom Leonard,

Aonghas MacNeacail Aonghas MacNeacail (born 7 June 1942), nickname ''Aonghas dubh'' or ''Black Angus'', is a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language. Early life MacNeacail was born in Uig on the Isle of Skye on 7 June 1942. He was raised in Idrigil, ...

and

Jeff Torrington Jeff Torrington (31 December 1935 – 11 May 2008) was a novelist from Glasgow in Scotland. His novels draw on the changing face of modern Scotland. ''Swing Hammer Swing'' (1992) was set during the demolition of the old Gorbals. It took 30 years t ...

. This group continued to meet until 1975, and unlike the previous groups developed a more pronounced focus on prose than on poetry. As an encore, Hobsbaum was instrumental in setting up, in 1995, the successful

MLitt The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at the University of Glasgow.

Work

Though he was a poet as well, it was as a critic that Hobsbaum was best known. And though as one of his obituarists noted, " was famously not a man who felt a pressing need to endear himself to students", he was a charismatic teacher, and fiercely committed to those with a commitment to literature. The dedication of Alasdair Gray's ''The Book of Prefaces'' is "to Philip Hobsbaum poet, critic and servant of servants of art". Seamus Heaney also dedicated the poem "Blackberry-Picking" (from

Death of a Naturalist ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966) is a collection of poems written by Seamus Heaney, who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. The collection was Heaney's first major published volume, and includes ideas that he had presented at meetings o ...

, 1966) to Philip Hobsbaum.

Poetry

*''A Group Anthology'' (Oxford UP, 1963), edited with Edward Lucie-Smith *''The Place's Fault, and other poems'' (Macmillan, 1964) *''Snapshots'' (Belfast: Festival Publications, 1967) *''In Retreat and Other Poems'' (Macmillan, 1966) *''Coming Out Fighting'' (Macmillan, 1969) *''Women and Animals'' (Macmillan, 1972) *''The Pattern of Poetry'' (1962)

Criticism and other academic writing

*''Ten Elizabethan Poets'' (Longmans, 1969), editor *''A Theory of Communication'' (Macmillan, 1970), in US as ''Theory of Criticism'' (Indiana UP, 1970) *''A Reader's Guide To Charles Dickens'' (Thames and Hudson, 1972) *''Tradition and Experiment in English Poetry'' (Macmillan, 1979) *''A Reader's Guide to D H Lawrence'' (Thames and Hudson, 1981) *''Essentials Of Literary Criticism'' (Thames and Hudson, 1983) *''A Reader's Guide to Robert Lowell'' (Thames and Hudson, 1988) *''William Wordsworth: Selected Poetry and Prose'' (Routledge, 1989), editor *''Channels of Communication: Papers from the Conference of Higher Education Teachers of English'' (Dept Eng Lit, University of Glasgow, 1992), edited by Hobsbaum, Paddy Lyons, and Jim McGhee *''Metre, Rhythm And Verse Form'' (Routledge, 1996) *Entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for Peter Alexander, William Burnaby, Richard Thomas Church, Everard Guilpin, Alfred Noyes, (James) Stewart Parker, and William Stewart Rose (2004).

References

External links

Philip Hobsbaum fonds
at University of Victoria, Special Collections
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Philip Hobsbaum collection, 1962-1971
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobsbaum, Philip Academics of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Sheffield English literary critics English people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish poets 1932 births 2005 deaths Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge English male poets People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford 20th-century English poets 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers British Jews British Jewish writers