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Philip Hoare

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

Philip Hoare
Born1958
Southampton, England, UK
OccupationWriter
Websitewww.philiphoare.co.uk

Philip Hoare (Southampton, 1958)[1] 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

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Hoare was born in Southampton.[2] He studied at St Mary's University, Twickenham.[2]

He was born Patrick Moore.[3] He chose the name Philip Hoare to avoid confusion with astronomer Patrick Moore:[2]

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.

Hoare is a Roman Catholic.[4]

Career

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Music

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In 1982–83, Hoare ran the record label Operation Twilight, a UK-based subsidiary of the Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule.[2]

2009 Samuel Johnson Prize

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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.[5] The book, which describes a personal and societal fascination with whales, received praise.[6][7] Jonathan Mirsky, writing for Literary Review, called the book "tremendous".[8]

Other work

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Hoare has recorded podcasts for NPR, VICE and Al Jazeera Media Network.[9] His curatorial work includes Derek Jarman's Modern Nature,[10] and he contributed to the Victoria and Albert Museum's international touring exhibition, David Bowie Is.[11][better source needed]

Hoare has written articles on whales, including one on the orca 'attacks' off the Iberian Peninsula in 2023.[12] 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.[13]

As a writer, Hoare has represented the British Council in Berlin, Guadalajara, and Moscow.[13][14][15]

Works

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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]
  • William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love (2025, 4th Estate)[16]

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

References

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  1. ^ Philip Hoare, Public Space
  2. ^ a b c d Sandhu, Sukhdev (21 June 2013). "Philip Hoare: A Life in Writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "A writer's life: Philip Hoare". The Telegraph. 13 February 2005. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2025. he is an ascetic and a devout Roman Catholic
  5. ^ Brown, Mark (30 June 2009). "'Classic' study of whales wins Samuel Johnson prize". The Guardian.
  6. ^ "Review: Leviathan or, the Whale by Philip Hoare". 3 October 2008.
  7. ^ Brown, Mark (30 June 2009). "'Classic' study of whales wins Samuel Johnson prize". The Guardian.
  8. ^ "Jonathan Mirsky - Animals Before the Fall".
  9. ^ "Napi's Lecture Series to resume Jan. 24 with author Philip Hoare". Center for Coastal Studies. 11 January 2024. Archived from the original on 29 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Derek Jarman's Modern Nature".
  11. ^ "David Bowie is: | Deluxe Hardback Exhibition Book | V&A Shop".
  12. ^ "Philip Hoare | the Guardian". TheGuardian.com.
  13. ^ a b "Philip Hoare - Literature".
  14. ^ "How I made a career out of my whale obsession (podcast)".
  15. ^ "Philip Hoare talking about his work at #BritLitBerlin 2015". YouTube. 23 February 2015.
  16. ^ Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert (4 April 2025). "A bonkers adventure in the world of William Blake". The Times. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
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