When did you last hear of a poetry book selling in the millions? Well, since 1958 when John Betjeman’s Collected Poems was first published, sales have exceeded 2.5 million and are still going strong. When he died in 1984, still as Poet Laureate, he was by far the nation’s favourite poet (as Philip Larkin acknowledged). Thanks to his work as a broadcaster and architectural campaigner he was also a celebrity. However his life was full of insecurities, frustrations and busted relationships, and in terms of his work, his comments that ‘he was not taken seriously by the TLS’ said it all.
Jonathan Smith, author of many successful novels, but also a playwright and educationalist, wrote two radio plays dramatising Betjeman’s life which were first broadcast on the BBC in 2017 and which have now been combined into a single narrative, part biography, part fiction but providing an extraordinary – and above all, highly entertaining – journey into the mind and the life of John Betjeman.
The book follows the poet from his time at Oxford where he wandered around clutching a teddy bear, then having been kicked out, to the well trodden route of Prep School master (he was taken on as a cricket coach, knowing absolutely nothing about the game). Then onto his unfortunate marriage to Penelope Chetwode an English travel writer, and the only daughter of Field Marshal Lord Chetwode, who sadly was more interested in horses than humans.
Being Betjeman(n) is a gem of a book which provides the reader with a highly entertaining foray into the world of one of Britain’s most loved literary (and much more!) figures.
In Jonathan’s own words: “It’s not a biography, it’s not an autobiography, it’s not a play … it’s just a book!”
Hear the author discussing the book in a podcast created by the Philip Larkin Society.
STOP PRESS:
NOVELIST JONATHAN SMITH SCOOPS BETJEMAN AWARD
Former Tonbridge School teacher wins Betjeman Society’s Award for “intensely personal” book Being Betjeman(n) and “lifelong obsession”.
The novelist, playwright and educationalist Jonathan Smith has been presented with The Betjeman Society’s 2021 Award for “the most significant recent contribution to the understanding or enjoyment of the life and work of Sir John Betjeman.” Jonathan Smith is the author of Being Betjeman(n), published in 2020 by Galileo, and two radio plays, Mr Betjeman’s Class and Mr Betjeman Regrets which were broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
Jonathan, who was formerly a teacher at Tonbridge School, was presented with his Betjeman Society Award on Saturday 28 August (Betjeman’s birthday) by Sir John’s biographer, Bevis Hillier, at a special ceremony held at London’s St Pancras Station, the Victorian architectural masterpiece that Betjeman helped to save from demolition in the 1960s.
The Betjeman Society (www.betjemansociety.com) – which exists to celebrate the life and achievements of the poet, writer, broadcaster and conservationist John Betjeman – describes Jonathan Smith as having had “a lifelong obsession with Betjeman” leading up to last year’s publication of Being Betjeman(n).
In the citation for the Award, the judges state of Being Betjeman(n): “The book combines autobiographical elements, while at the same time presenting imagined dialogue from episodes in Betjeman’s life, with some factual basis. It is a fascinating book, intensely personal, with deep introspection, and it is clear to the reader that Betjeman has got under his skin right from his early days as an undergraduate at Cambridge. Jonathan is a staunch supporter of John Betjeman’s reputation and Being Betjeman(n) is a great and thought-provoking addition to the works about his life and achievements.”
The Award winner’s trophy is a limited-edition cast bronze maquette of the iconic John Betjeman statue at St Pancras Station. The trophy is mounted on a Caithness stone base. Lance Pierson, Chairman of The Betjeman Society, comments: “Jonathan Smith is a worthy winner of the Betjeman Society Award. His book is a significant new addition to Betjeman literature, even in a new composite genre. It is full of insight, as befits someone who has lived with his subject matter and reflected on it for most of his lifetime. We are all the richer for it.”
The Betjeman Society Award is presented every year to a “person, group or organisation which in the opinion of the Council has made the most significant recent contribution to the understanding or enjoyment of the life and work of Sir John Betjeman.” The large number of nominations for this year’s Award reflects the continued interest in Betjeman’s work.
The Author
Jonathan Smith is the author of
- Wilfred and Eileen
- The English Lover
- In Flight
- Come Back
- Summer in February.
- Night Windows.
- The Learning Game: A Teacher’s Inspirational Story.
- The Churchill Secret KBO.
- The Following Game.
- The Trenches Trip (BBC Radio 4)
- The Tennis Court (Radio 4)
- Portrait of Winston (Radio 4)
- Mr Betjeman’s Class (Radio 4)
- Mr Betjeman Regrets (Radio 4)
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