George Barker (poet)
Encyclopedia
George Granville Barker (26 February 1913 – 27 October 1991) was an English
poet
and author.
, near Epping Forest
in Essex
, England, elder brother of Kit Barker
[painter] George Barker was raised by his Irish mother and English father in Battersea, London. He was educated at an L.C.C. school and at Regent Street Polytechnic
. Having left school at an early age he pursued several odd jobs before settling on a career in writing. Early volumes of note by Barker include Thirty Preliminary Poems (1933), Poems (1935) and Calamiterror (1937), which was inspired by the Spanish Civil War
.
In his early twenties, Barker had already been published by T. S. Eliot
at Faber and Faber
, who also helped him to gain appointment as Professor of English Literature in 1939 at Tohoku University
(Sendai, Miyagi
, Japan
). He left there in 1940 due to the hostilities, but wrote Pacific Sonnets during his tenure.
He then travelled to the United States
where he began his longtime liaison with writer Elizabeth Smart
, by whom he had four of his fifteen children. Barker also had three children by his first wife, Jessica. He returned to England in 1943. From the late 1960s until his death, he lived in Itteringham
, Norfolk
, with his wife Elspeth Barker
, the novelist. In 1969, he published the poem At Thurgarton Church, the village of Thurgarton
being a few miles from Itteringham.
Barker's 1950 novel, The Dead Seagull, described his affair with Smart, whose 1945 novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
was also about the affair. His Collected poems (ISBN 0-571-13972-8) were edited by Robert Fraser and published in 1987 by Faber and Faber.
In describing the difficulties in writing his biography, Barker was quoted as saying, "I've stirred the facts around too much, ... It simply can't be done". Yet, Robert Fraser did just that with; The Chameleon Poet: A Life of George Barker.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and author.
Life and work
Barker was born in LoughtonLoughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
, near Epping Forest
Epping Forest
Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. It is a former royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England, elder brother of Kit Barker
Kit Barker
Kit Barker was a British painter.He was the younger brother of the poet George Barker. Self taught, he was influenced by the Surrealists in the nineteen thirties and exhibited some surrealist paintings. He served in the British Army from 1942 to 1945. Barker lived in Cornwall from 1947 to 1948...
[painter] George Barker was raised by his Irish mother and English father in Battersea, London. He was educated at an L.C.C. school and at Regent Street Polytechnic
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
. Having left school at an early age he pursued several odd jobs before settling on a career in writing. Early volumes of note by Barker include Thirty Preliminary Poems (1933), Poems (1935) and Calamiterror (1937), which was inspired by the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
In his early twenties, Barker had already been published by T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
at Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, who also helped him to gain appointment as Professor of English Literature in 1939 at Tohoku University
Tohoku University
, abbreviated to , located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan and is a member of the National Seven Universities...
(Sendai, Miyagi
Sendai, Miyagi
is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku Region. In 2005, the city had a population of one million, and was one of Japan's 19 designated cities...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
). He left there in 1940 due to the hostilities, but wrote Pacific Sonnets during his tenure.
He then travelled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he began his longtime liaison with writer Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Smart (author)
Elizabeth Smart was a Canadian poet and novelist. Her book, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, detailed her romance with the poet George Barker...
, by whom he had four of his fifteen children. Barker also had three children by his first wife, Jessica. He returned to England in 1943. From the late 1960s until his death, he lived in Itteringham
Itteringham
Itteringham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, some northwest of the market town of AylshamIt covers an area of and had a population of 136 in 60 households as of the 2001 census....
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, with his wife Elspeth Barker
Elspeth Barker
Elspeth Barker is a novelist and journalist. She was born in 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her first husband was the poet George Barker by whom she had five children, including the novelist Raffaella Barker. In 2007 she married the writer Bill Troop....
, the novelist. In 1969, he published the poem At Thurgarton Church, the village of Thurgarton
Thurgarton (Norfolk)
Thurgarton is a village in the North Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk. It lies north of Aylsham and south-west of Cromer, and was in the Erpingham Hundred. It forms part of the civil parish of Aldborough....
being a few miles from Itteringham.
Barker's 1950 novel, The Dead Seagull, described his affair with Smart, whose 1945 novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept is a novel of prose poetry written by the Canadian author Elizabeth Smart and published in 1945. It is widely considered to be a classic of the genre....
was also about the affair. His Collected poems (ISBN 0-571-13972-8) were edited by Robert Fraser and published in 1987 by Faber and Faber.
In describing the difficulties in writing his biography, Barker was quoted as saying, "I've stirred the facts around too much, ... It simply can't be done". Yet, Robert Fraser did just that with; The Chameleon Poet: A Life of George Barker.
External links & Further reading
- Essay by Robert Fraser, Open University
- Short informal biography with links to some of Barker's poems
- Barker's Grave
- More links to Barker's poems
- A large collection of Barker's papers is located at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin
- George Barker collection at University of Victoria, Special Collections
- George Barker Collection, 1930-1966 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center
- Truly, madly, deeply, by Peter Wilby, The Guardian, 2008:http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/apr/19/poetry
- Daniel Farson, Soho in the Fifties (Michael Joseph, London, 1987).
- An Anthology from XX (magazine)X, A Quarterly Review was a British arts review published in London which ran for seven issues between 1959-1962. It was founded and co-edited by Patrick Swift and David Wright...
, founded by Patrick SwiftPatrick SwiftPatrick Swift was an artist born in Dublin, Ireland. Patrick Swift was a painter and key cultural figure in Dublin and London before moving to the Algarve in southern Portugal, where he is buried in the town of Porches...
and David WrightDavid Wright (poet)David John Murray Wright was an author and "an acclaimed South African-born poet".-Biography:Wright was born in Johannesburg, South Africa 23 February 1920 of normal hearing....
(Oxford University Press 1988; ISBN 0192122665). See X (magazine)X (magazine)X, A Quarterly Review was a British arts review published in London which ran for seven issues between 1959-1962. It was founded and co-edited by Patrick Swift and David Wright...
. - Patrick Swift 1927-83, Poem about Patrick Swift (Gandon Editions, Kinsale, 1993)
- Selected Poems, HOMAGE TO GEORGE BARKER (On his Sixtieth Birthday). John Heath-Stubbs & Martin Green, -eds, 1973. Includes portrait of Barker by Swift seen here.
- The Chameleon Poet: A Life of George Barker, Jonathan Cape Ltd (21 Feb 2002), ISBN 978-0224062428
- The Spoken Word: George Barker [Audiobook], ISBN 978-0712305402