Walter Allen

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Walter Ernest Allen (23 February 1911 – 28 February 1995) was an English literary critic and novelist. He is best known for his classic study The English Novel: a Short Critical History (1954).

He was born in Aston, Birmingham; he drew on his working-class roots for All in a Lifetime (1959), generally considered his best novel. He was educated at King Edward's Grammar School and the University of Birmingham,^[1] graduating in 1932 — his friends at that period included Henry Reed and Louis MacNeice.

He taught and took numerous temporary academic positions; he also worked in journalism, being at one time literary editor of the New Statesman; and was a broadcaster. In 1967 he took a position as Professor of English Studies at the University of Ulster.

He was known as an editor of George Gissing. He wrote some poetry, which appeared in John Lehmann's publications in the 1940s. He left much writing in manuscript. He died in London.

Works

Innocence is Drowned (1938) novel
Blind Man's Ditch (1939) novel
Living Space (1940) novel
The Black Country (1946) novel
Rogue Elephant (1946) novel
Arnold Bennett (1948) criticism
Writers on Writing (1948) editor
Reading a Novel (1949)
Dead Man Over All (1950) novel
Joyce Cary (1953) criticism
The English Novel; a Short Critical History (1954)
The Novel Today (1955)
Six Great Novelists (1955)
All in a Lifetime (1959) novel
George Eliot (1964) criticism
Tradition and Dream: The English and American Novel from the Twenties to Our Time (1964)
As I Walked Down New Grub Street (1981) autobiography
The Short Story in English (1981)
Get Out Early (1986)
Accosting Profiles (1989)

References

↑ Head, Dominic (2006). The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-521-83179-2.

Authority control	VIAF: 108224233 ISNI: 0000 0001 1496 938X BNF: cb12868885d

Persondata
Name	Allen, Walter
Alternative names
Short description	Literary critic, novelist
Date of birth	23 February 1911
Place of birth	Aston, Birmingham
Date of death	28 February 1995
Place of death	London

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