Peter Conrad (born 1948) is an Australian-born academic specialising in English literature, who taught at Christ Church at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Conrad was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and attended Hobart High School. After graduating from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

in 1968, Conrad went to Oxford University, UK, on a Rhodes Scholarship, studying at New College. He became a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

from 1970 to 1973 before taking up his current post at Christ Church. There he taught English from 1973, and has been a visiting professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, and a guest lecturer throughout the United States. By 2018 he had retired. His criticism includes a major history of English literature, ''The Everyman History of English Literature'', a

cultural history Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

of the twentieth century, two autobiographical works and a novel. He has written books of criticism on

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

and Alfred Hitchcock and has been a prolific writer of features and reviews for many magazines and newspapers including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'', and ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

''. Reviewing

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...

'' in the ''

'', Conrad stated that "Tolkien can't actually write". A review by

Richard Poirier Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...

of Conrad's 1980 book, ''Imagining America'', in the '' London Review of Books'' found it so slipshod, with such fundamental and pointedly homophobic misunderstandings Oscar Wilde, Rupert Brooke and

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

, that the reviewer wondered how it made it into print.

Bibliography

* * ''Romantic Opera and Literary Form'', Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1978, * ''Shandyism: The Character of Romantic Irony'', Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978, * ''Imagining America'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1980, * ''Television: The Medium and its Manners'', Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982, * ''The Art of the City: Views and Versions of New York'', New York: Oxford University Press, 1984, * ''The Everyman History of English Literature'', London: J. M. Dent, 1985, * ''A Song of Love and Death: The Meaning of Opera'', New York: Poseidon Press, 1987, *
Behind the Mountain: Return to Tasmania
', London: Chatto & Windus, 1988, * ''Where I Fell to Earth: A Life in Four Cities'', New York: Poseidon Press, 1990, * ''Underworld'', Simon & Schuster, 1992, * ''Modern Times, Modern Places: Life and Art in the Twentieth Century'', Thames & Hudson, 1999, * * ''The Hitchock Murders'', Faber & Faber, 2002, * ''At Home in Australia'', Thames & Hudson, 2003, * ''Orson Welles: The Stories of His Life'', Faber & Faber, 2004, * ''Creation: Artists, Gods & Origins'', Thames & Hudson, 2007, * * ''Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries'', Thames & Hudson, 2014, * ''Mythomania: Tales of Our Times'', Thames & Hudson, 2016, * ''Shakespeare: The Theatre of Our World'', Head of Zeus, 2018, * ''The Mysteries of Cinema: Movies and Imagination'', Thames & Hudson, 2021,

References

External links

Faber & Faber's biography
by

Terry Eagleton Terence Francis Eagleton (born 22 February 1943) is an English literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. He is currently Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University. Eagleton has published over forty books, ...

: Review of ''Modern Times, Modern Places''.
"Tales of Two Hemispheres" – Peter Conrad

Boyer Lectures The Boyer Lectures are a series of talks by prominent Australians, presenting ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues, and broadcast on ABC Radio National. The Boyer Lectures began in 1959 as the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commi ...

, 2004,

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

Peter Conrad
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Peter 1948 births Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford Australian Rhodes Scholars Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Granta people People from Hobart University of Tasmania alumni