Hobsbaum, Philip Dennis

(1932-2005)

   Hobsbaum was born in London of orthodox Jewish parents but lived in Yorkshire from the age of five. He read English at Downing College, Cambridge, and in 1955 he moved to London, briefly worked in television, then taught in various schools until 1959, when he worked for his Ph.D. at Sheffield University, which resulted in A Theory of Communication (1969). He was lecturer at Queen's University, Belfast, reader in English literature at Glasgow University from 1965 and full professor in 1985. He was the founder of the "Group" along with like-minded poets such as Edward Lucie-Smith, Peter Redgrove and George Macbeth (see respective entries). Groups were formed in Cambridge, London, Belfast, and Glasgow. "Hobsbaum believed that criticism provided a solid basis for creative endeavor, and himself nurtured the talents of many wellknown writers through a famous series of private critical 'groups'" (Alan Brownjohn, Thursday, July 7, 2005, The Guardian). Some of his poetry publications: The Place's Fault, 1964. In Retreat, 1966. Coming Out Fighting, 1969. Women and Animals, 1972. Some of his poems: "A Credential," "A Lesson in Love," "Last Memo," "Timon Speaks to a Dog."

   Sources: Guardian Unlimited Obituary of Philip Dennis Hobsbaum (http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/). P.E.N. New Poetry I. Robert Nye, ed. Quartet Books, 1986. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse. Philip Larkin, ed. Oxford University Press, 1973. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Tygers of Wrath: Poems of Hate, Anger, and Invective. X.J. Kennedy, ed. University of Georgia Press, 1981. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).