Michael Irwin (author)

Last updated

Thomas Arthur Michael Irwin, (born 3 May 1934) is a British Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Kent [1] and author of several works of fiction, as well as scholarly books. His 2013 novel, The Skull and the Nightingale [2] is, according to WorldCat, held in more than 500 libraries. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Irwin was born in London, and was educated at William Ellis School, Camden and Exeter College, Oxford. He earned a BLitt and MA.

Career

Irwin taught at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (1958–1959), the University of Tokyo (1961–1963), the University of Łódź (1963–1965) and Smith College, Massachusetts (1965–1967) before joining the newly established University of Kent in 1967 where he became Professor of English.

During his career Irwin wrote three books related to the field of English literature. He wrote introductions to a number of editions of classic Victorian novels. He also wrote two novels early in his career.

In 2001 Irwin retired, becoming Professor Emeritus. [4] He served as the Chairman of the Thomas Hardy Society from 2005 until 2008. He contributed criticism and analysis of Hardy's works to several books and journals. [5]

Irwin also translated a number of opera libretti, mostly for Kent Opera and wrote the lyrics for Brunel (opera project) and other original musical works. [6] [7]

In 2013 he wrote a novel, The Skull and the Nightingale, which has received a number of positive reviews. [8] [9]

Bibliography

Fiction:

Non-fiction:

Personal life

Irwin has four children, a daughter from his first marriage to Donia Etherington, and two daughters and a son with his wife Stella. The couple lived together in Canterbury, Kent, until her death in 2015.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert and Sullivan</span> Victorian-era theatrical partnership

Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Sullivan</span> British composer (1842–1900)

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan was an English composer. He is best known for 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. His works include 24 operas, 11 major orchestral works, ten choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous church pieces, songs, and piano and chamber pieces. His hymns and songs include "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "The Lost Chord".

<i>The Pirates of Penzance</i> 1879 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances.

<i>The Mikado</i> 1885 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. By the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.

<i>Iolanthe</i> 1882 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert and Sullivan. In the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal; this is forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery. All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman, she assumes the worst and sets off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies. The opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. The confrontation between the fairies and the peers is a version of one of Gilbert's favourite themes: a tranquil civilisation of women is disrupted by a male-dominated world through the discovery of mortal love.

<i>H.M.S. Pinafore</i> 1878 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation.

<i>Utopia, Limited</i> 1893 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances. It did not achieve the success of most of their earlier productions.

<i>The Sorcerer</i> 1877 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

The Sorcerer is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of The Sorcerer is based on a Christmas story, An Elixir of Love, that Gilbert wrote for The Graphic magazine in 1876. A young man, Alexis, is obsessed with the idea of love levelling all ranks and social distinctions. To promote his beliefs, he invites the proprietor of J. W. Wells & Co., Family Sorcerers, to brew a love potion. This causes everyone in the village to fall in love with the first person they see and results in the pairing of comically mismatched couples. In the end, Wells must sacrifice his life to break the spell.

<i>Princess Ida</i> 1884 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. Princess Ida opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a run of 246 performances. The piece concerns a princess who founds a women's university and teaches that women are superior to men and should rule in their stead. The prince to whom she had been married in infancy sneaks into the university, together with two friends, with the aim of collecting his bride. They disguise themselves as women students, but are discovered, and all soon face a literal war between the sexes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival</span> International festival for Gilbert and Sullivan performance held in England

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan opera performances and fringe events attracts thousands of visitors, including performers, supporters, and G&S enthusiasts from around the world. The Festival was held in Buxton, Derbyshire, from 1994 to 2013, and from 2014 to 2022, it was held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, usually with a week in Buxton preceding the main part of the Festival. The entire Festival returned to Buxton in 2023.

<i>Patience</i> (opera) 1881 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera is a satire on the aesthetic movement of the 1870s and '80s in England and, more broadly, on fads, superficiality, vanity, hypocrisy and pretentiousness; it also satirises romantic love, rural simplicity and military bluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian literature</span> English literature during the era of Queen Victoria

Victorian literature is English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era that the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society. The number of new novels published each year increased from 100 at the start of the period to 1000 by the end of it. Famous novelists from this period include Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, the three Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Rudyard Kipling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D'Oyly Carte Opera Company</span> British theatre company

The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company which, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The company was revived for short seasons and tours from 1988 to 2003, and since 2013 it has co-produced four of the operas with Scottish Opera.

<i>A Sensation Novel</i> Comic musical play by W. S. Gilbert

A Sensation Novel is a comic musical play in three acts written by the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, with music composed by Thomas German Reed. It was first performed on 31 January 1871 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. Only four of German Reed's songs survive. Nearly 25 years later, the music was rewritten and published by Florian Pascal. The story concerns an author suffering from writer's block who finds that the characters in his novel are dissatisfied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridget D'Oyly Carte</span> British opera company manager and hotel owner

Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte DBE was head of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1948 until 1982. She was the granddaughter of the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte and the only daughter of Rupert D'Oyly Carte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Bradley</span> British academic, author and broadcaster

Ian Campbell Bradley is a British academic, author and broadcaster.

For nearly 150 years, Gilbert and Sullivan have pervasively influenced popular culture in the English-speaking world. Lines and quotations from the Gilbert and Sullivan operas have become part of the English language, such as "short, sharp shock", "What never? Well, hardly ever!", "let the punishment fit the crime", and "A policeman's lot is not a happy one".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Traubner</span>

Richard Traubner was an American journalist, author, operetta scholar and historian, and lecturer on theatre and film. His best-known book, Operetta: A Theatrical History, was first published in 1983.

<i>Trial by Jury</i> 1875 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its popular companion piece, Jacques Offenbach's La Périchole. The story concerns a "breach of promise of marriage" lawsuit in which the judge and legal system are the objects of lighthearted satire. Gilbert based the libretto of Trial by Jury on an operetta parody that he had written in 1868.

<i>The Pretty Druidess</i>

The Pretty Druidess; Or, The Mother, The Maid, and The Mistletoe Bough is an operatic burlesque by W. S. Gilbert. It was produced at the opening of the new Charing Cross Theatre on 19 June 1869 and ran until September of that year.

References

  1. ↑ "Anarchy in Wonderland: Vivienne Westwood's anti-capitalist take on Alice's Adventures". New Statesman, By Liv Constable-Maxwell 13 July 2015
  2. ↑ "Review: The Skull and the Nightingale". Historical Novel Society.
  3. ↑ "The skull and the nightingale". WorldCat report.
  4. ↑ "Barbara's Picks, Aug. 2013, Pt. 4: Ghost Brides, 1700s Debauchery, and a Trip to Calcutta". Library Journal, By Barbara Hoffert on February 18, 2013
  5. ↑ "Faciality and Sensation in Hardy's The Return of the Native". William A, Cohen, University of Maryland.
  6. ↑ School of Divinity University of St Andrews Ian Bradley Reader in Practical Theology and Church History (7 April 2005). Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! : The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan: The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 155–. ISBN   978-0-19-534719-7.
  7. ↑ "The Reflective Conservatoire - Universitaire Pers Leuven". The Dutch Journal of Music Theory. Vol 12 No 1 p. 155
  8. ↑ "New novels from the eighteenth century". The Times Literary Supplement, Norma Clarke
  9. ↑ "The Skull and the Nightingale". Portland Book Review, Whitney Smyth, February 13, 2014.
  10. ↑ WSC 167 Jan 01. "When Saturday Comes - Always afraid to miss".
  11. ↑ "THE SKULL AND THE NIGHTINGALE". Kirkus Reviews.
  12. ↑ "The Skull And The Nightingale". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
  13. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: The Skull and the Nightingale by Michael Irwin. Morrow, $25.99 (416p)" ISBN   978-0-06-220235-2. PublishersWeekly.com.
  14. ↑ "A Short Bibliographical Survey of Thomas Hardy Studies". The Victorian Web, Andrzej Diniejko
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.