Philip Hoare

For the English cricketer, see Philip Hoare (cricketer).
Born Patrick K. Moore
1958
Pen name Philip Hoare
Occupation Writer
Language English
Nationality British
Period 1990-
Genre Nonfiction

Philip Hoare (born Patrick Moore,[1] 1958, Southampton) is the author of seven works of non-fiction: Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant (1990) and Noël Coward: A Biography (1995), Wilde’s Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the First World War (1997), Spike Island: The Memory of a Military Hospital (2000), and England’s Lost Eden: Adventures in a Victorian Utopia (2005). Leviathan or, The Whale (2008), won the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction. He has also written The Sea Inside (2013).

An experienced broadcaster, Hoare wrote and presented the BBC Arena film The Hunt for Moby-Dick, and directed three films for BBC’s Whale Night. He is Visiting Fellow at Southampton University, and Leverhulme Artist-in-residence at the Marine Institute, Plymouth University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011. His latest book, The Sea Inside, was published by Fourth Estate in June 2013.

Hoare has been interested by cetaceans since early childhood and between 2011–2012, this self-professed 'whale obsession' led him to create the 'Moby Dick Big Read'. The project, curated by Hoare and artist Angela Cockayne, involved the construction of an online audiobook of all 135 chapters of Herman Melville's classic 'Moby Dick; or, the Whale'. The readings were delivered by a multitude of celebrities, including Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry, Sir David Attenborough, John Waters, Simon Callow and David Cameron and accompanied by images from contemporary artists such as Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, George Shaw and Susan Hiller. The readings were uploaded to the 'Moby Dick Big Read' website, with one chapter available for download per day from 16 September 2012. All downloads are free but donations are invited to 'Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society' (WDCS). Hoare is a contributor for the animal news site, The Dodo.

The name Philip Hoare was adopted to avoid confusion with astronomer Patrick Moore. "Imagine having to spend your entire life living with people asking: 'You're not that astronomer, are you?' Or: 'Do you play the xylophone?' Another reason was that when I was managing bands I used to review my own bands for the NME and Sounds as Philip Hoare. Philip was my confirmation name; Hoare my mother's maiden name."[2]

In 1982–83, he ran the record label Operation Twilight, a UK-based subsidiary of the Belgian Les Disques du Crépuscule,[2][3][4] which launched the career of the Pale Fountains.

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "HOW WE MET: HUGO VICKERS AND PHILIP HOARE". The Independent.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sukhdev Sandhu. "Philip Hoare: a life in writing". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/label/Operation%20Twilight
  4. ↑ "Operation Twilight: Post Script". Planet.nl.

External links