Philip Hoare

For the English cricketer, see Philip Hoare (cricketer).

Philip Hoare
Born
Southampton, England, UK
OccupationWriter
Websitewww.philiphoare.co.uk

Philip Hoare is a British writer, film-maker and curator. He won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize, now known as the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, for his work Leviathan, or the Whale.

Early life and education

Hoare was born in Southampton.[1] He studied at St Mary's University, Twickenham.[1]

He was born Patrick Moore.[2] He chose the name Philip Hoare to avoid confusion with astronomer Patrick Moore:[1]

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.

Career

Music

In 1982–83, Hoare ran the record label Operation Twilight, a UK-based subsidiary of the Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule.[1]

2009 Samuel Johnson Prize

Hoare was the winner of the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize, now known as the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, for his work Leviathan, or the Whale.[3] The book, which describes a personal and societal fascination with whales, received praise.[4][5] Jonathan Mirsky, writing for Literary Review, called the book "tremendous".[6]

Other work

Hoare has recorded podcasts for NPR, VICE and Al Jazeera Media Network.[7] His curatorial work includes Derek Jarman's Modern Nature,[8] and he contributed to the Victoria and Albert Museum's international touring exhibition, David Bowie Is.[9][better source needed]

Hoare has written articles on whales, including one on the orca 'attacks' off the Iberian Peninsula in 2023.[10] He is special ambassador for Whale and Dolphin Conservation, visiting fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, and lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.[11]

As a writer, Hoare has represented the British Council in Berlin, Guadalajara, and Moscow.[12][13][14]

Works

Hoare is the author of 11 works of non-fiction:

  • Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant (1990)
  • 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), the story of Netley Hospital in Southampton
  • The Ghosts of Netley (2004)
  • England's Lost Eden: Adventures in a Victorian Utopia (2005), about Mary Anne Girling and the New Forest Shakers
  • Leviathan or, The Whale (2008), which won the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction
  • The Whale: In Search Of The Giants Of The Sea (2010)
  • The Sea Inside (2013)
  • RisingTideFallingStar (2017)
  • Albert and the Whale: Albrecht Dürer and How Art Imagines Our World (2021)[a]

He has also edited The Sayings of Noël Coward (1997).

Hoare has co-authored or contributed to the following publications:

  • Essay on the evolution of class in the UK in a British Council pamphlet, Posh: The Evolution of the Traditional British Brand (ed. Sorrel Hershberg, 1999).
  • An essay in Linder: Works 1976–2006 (2006), a collection about Linder Sterling.
  • Gabriel Orozco (2006), exhibition catalogue and texts, with Mark Godfrey.
  • Pet Shop Boys (2006), catalogue and texts, with Chris Heath.
  • Introduction to David Austen (2007) (eds. Emma Dean and Michael Stanley).
  • Foreword to Made in Southampton (2008), a box-set of prints.
  • Provenance (2010), with Angela Cockayne, a response to Wunderkammen.
  • Essay, "Something against nothing", in Tania Kovats (2011) (ed. Jeremy Millar).
  • Dominion: A Whale Symposium (2012) (eds. Hoare and Angela Cockayne).
  • Essay in Malicious Damage: the Defaced Library Books of Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton (2013), (ed. Ilsa Colsell).
  • Essay in Southampton: A City Lost ... And Found (2013), a collection of drawings by Eric Meadus.
  • Record of a discussion between Hoare, Christopher Frayling and Mark Kermode on David Bowie's cultural impact, in David Bowie is the subject (2013) (eds. Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh).
  • Greetings from Darktown : an illustrator's miscellany, a collection of the work of Jonny Hannah, with texts by Hoare, Sheena Calvert and Peter Chrisp (2014).
  • Foreword to As is the sea (2014), writing by students from the Royal College of Art (ed. Jessie Bond).
  • Another Green World – Linn Botanic Gardens: Encounters with a Scottish Arcadia (2015), photographs by Alison Turnbull, text by Hoare.

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Notes
  1. ^ Briefly reviewed in the May 31, 2021 issue of The New Yorker, p.63.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sandhu, Sukhdev (21 June 2013). "Philip Hoare: A Life in Writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  2. ^ Vickers, Hugo (23 October 2011). "How We Met: Hugo Vickers and Philip Hoare". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  3. ^ Brown, Mark (30 June 2009). "'Classic' study of whales wins Samuel Johnson prize". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "Review: Leviathan or, the Whale by Philip Hoare". 3 October 2008.
  5. ^ Brown, Mark (30 June 2009). "'Classic' study of whales wins Samuel Johnson prize". The Guardian.
  6. ^ "Jonathan Mirsky - Animals Before the Fall".
  7. ^ https://coastalstudies.org/news/napis-lecture-series-to-resume-jan-24-with-author-philip-hoare/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ "Derek Jarman's Modern Nature".
  9. ^ "David Bowie is: | Deluxe Hardback Exhibition Book | V&A Shop".
  10. ^ "Philip Hoare | the Guardian". TheGuardian.com.
  11. ^ "Philip Hoare - Literature".
  12. ^ "Philip Hoare - Literature".
  13. ^ https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-made-career-out-of-whale-watching. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ "Philip Hoare talking about his work at #BritLitBerlin 2015". YouTube. 23 February 2015.