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W.H. Auden: A Biography
by Humphrey Carpenter
9780049280472
Synopsis:
Few of W. H. Auden's friends adhered to his request to burn his letters after he died. Humphrey Carpenter's study quotes much of this correspondence for the first time, as well as drawing on other such rare material as Auden's unpublished verse, juvenilia, notebooks, and the journal the young poet kept during a stay in Berlin. This biography traces the artistic development of the most influential English poet of his generation, explaining the in-jokes in his early work, and the romantic crisis that inspired his last three long poems.
About the Author:
Humphrey Carpenter was born and educated in Oxford, and attended the Dragon School and Keble College. He was a well-known biographer and children's writer, and worked previously as a producer at the BBC. He wrote biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien, W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Ezra Pound, C. S. Lewis and Dennis Potter. Among his many books for children were the best-selling Mr Majeika series. He also wrote several plays for the theatre and radio. A keen musician, he was a member of a 1930s-style jazz band, Vile Bodies, which was resident at the Ritz Hotel in London for a number of years. He died in 2005.
Few of W. H. Auden's friends adhered to his request to burn his letters after he died. Humphrey Carpenter's study quotes much of this correspondence for the first time, as well as drawing on other such rare material as Auden's unpublished verse, juvenilia, notebooks, and the journal the young poet kept during a stay in Berlin. This biography traces the artistic development of the most influential English poet of his generation, explaining the in-jokes in his early work, and the romantic crisis that inspired his last three long poems.
About the Author:
Humphrey Carpenter was born and educated in Oxford, and attended the Dragon School and Keble College. He was a well-known biographer and children's writer, and worked previously as a producer at the BBC. He wrote biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien, W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Ezra Pound, C. S. Lewis and Dennis Potter. Among his many books for children were the best-selling Mr Majeika series. He also wrote several plays for the theatre and radio. A keen musician, he was a member of a 1930s-style jazz band, Vile Bodies, which was resident at the Ritz Hotel in London for a number of years. He died in 2005.
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