P. J. Kavanagh FRSL (6 January 1931 – 26 August 2015) was an English poet, lecturer, actor, broadcaster and columnist. His father was the ''

ITMA ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...

'' scriptwriter

Ted Kavanagh Henry Edward Kavanagh (7 March 1892 – 17 September 1958) was a British radio scriptwriter and producer. Ted Kavanagh was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1892. He initially studied medicine in Edinburgh before pursuing a career as a writer. H ...

Life

Patrick Joseph Kavanagh worked as a Butlin's Redcoat, then as a newsreader for Radiodiffusion Française, in Paris. He attended acting classes but was called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, and was wounded in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Kavanagh attended Merton College, Oxford, from 1951 to 1954; there he began to write poetry, and met Sally Philipps, the daughter of the novelist Rosamond Lehmann. He and Philipps wed in 1956; two years later she died suddenly, of poliomyelitis, while they were living in Java, where he was teaching for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

. His memoir about their relationship, '' The Perfect Stranger'', won the Richard Hillary Memorial Prize. He published several volumes of poetry: ''One and One'', ''On the Way to the Depot'', ''About Time'', ''Edward Thomas in Heaven'', ''Life Before Death'' and ''An Enchantment'' and ''Something About''. There were collections: ''Selected Poems'', ''Presences: New and Selected Poems'', and ''Collected Poems''. In 1993 he was given the

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has be ...

for poetry. Kavanagh's first novel, ''A Song and Dance'', was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize; he wrote three further novels: ''A Happy Man'', ''People and Weather'', and ''Only by Mistake''; and two novels for children: ''Scarf Jack'' and ''Rebel for Good''. He published a collection of essays and articles ''People and Places: A Selection 1975–1987'', a travel autobiography ''Finding Connections'', and a literary companion ''Voices in Ireland''. He was editor of ''Collected Poems of

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in ps ...

'', ''The Bodley Head G. K. Chesterton'', ''The Essential G. K. Chesterton'', ''The Oxford Book of Short Poems '' (with

James Michie James Michie (24 June 1927 – 30 October 2007) was an English poet, translator and editor. Michie was born in Weybridge, Surrey, the son of a banker and the younger brother of Donald Michie, a researcher in artificial intelligence. The texts ...

) and ''A Book of Consolations''. He co-presented the programmes ''Poetry Please'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and '' Not So Much a Programme'' on BBC1 TV. His acting roles included the films ''

Masters of Venus ''Masters of Venus'' is a 1962 British science fiction film, science fiction serial film, film serial in 8 parts, made by the Children's Film Foundation for cinema distribution as a Saturday morning serial for children. It's directed by Ernest Mor ...

'' (1962), '' Half Moon Street'' (1986) and '' Hidden Agenda'' (1990), and his television appearances include ''Journey Through Summer'', as the Nazi-memorabilia-collecting Father Seamus Fitzpatrick in the episode of '' Father Ted'', "Are You Right There, Father Ted?", and as the secret agent Sean Mortimer suffering from drug-induced amnesia in the episode " The Forget-Me-Knot" of the series '' The Avengers'', the last episode with Diana Rigg in the female leading role. He was a columnist for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' from 1983 to 1996 and then for ''

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 ...

'' until 2002.

Death

Kavanagh lived in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

from 1963 until his death. He married his second wife, Catherine Ward, in 1965; they had two sons together.

Publications

*''One and One'', London: Heinemann, 1959. *''The Perfect Stranger'' (autobiography), London: Chatto and Windus, 1966. *''On the Way to the Depot'', London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1967. *''A Song and Dance'', 1968 *''About Time'', London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1970. *''A Happy Man'', 1972. *''Edward Thomas in Heaven'', London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1974. *''People and Weather'', London: John Calder, 1978. *''Scarf Jack'', 1978. *''Life Before Death'', London: Chatto & Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1979. *''Rebel for Good'', 1980. *''Collected Poems of

'' (editor), Oxford University Press, 1982 (paperback) *''The Oxford Book of Short Poems'' (co-editor with James Michie), Oxford University Press, 1985. *''The Bodley Head G. K. Chesterton'', (editor), 1985 *''Only by Mistake'', 1986. *''The Essential G. K. Chesterton'', (editor), 1987 *''People and Places: a selection 1975–1987'', 1988 *''Finding Connections'', 1990 *''An Enchantment'', Manchester: Carcanet, 1991. *''A Book of Consolations'', (editor), 1992 *''Collected Poems''. Manchester: Carcanet, 1995. *'' Voices in Ireland: A Traveller's Literary Companion'', John Murray, 1995. *''Something About'', Manchester: Carcanet, 2004. *P. J. Kavanagh Reading from his poems, The Poetry Archive 2005

Partial filmography

*''

'' (1962) – Mike *'' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) – Staff Major – Murray's Aide (uncredited) *'' The Naked Brigade'' (1965) – Lt. Bentley *'' Half Moon Street'' (1986) – General Sir George Newhouse *'' Hidden Agenda'' (1990) – Alec Nevin

References

External links

PJ Kavanagh at Poetry Archive
*
Site which includes ''Voices in Ireland'' by PJ Kavanagh complete
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, P. J. 1931 births 2015 deaths Lehmann family British Army soldiers Military personnel from Sussex Alumni of Merton College, Oxford BBC Radio 4 presenters British Army personnel of the Korean War English male television actors People educated at Douai School Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English male poets People from Worthing