Kenneth Allott

Kenneth Allott (29 August 1912 – 1973) was an Anglo-Irish poet and academic, and authority on Matthew Arnold.

Born in Glamorgan, where his father, a doctor, was serving as a locum, Allott later experienced the break-up of his parents' marriage, followed by the death of his mother. After she died he and his brother Guy were adopted by their Irish aunts on Tyneside, and from the age of 14 attended St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic Grammar School in Newcastle on Tyne. There he became known as 'Speedy', because he spoke so quickly. Despite the fact that the VI Form then taught only science for Higher School Certificate, he studied English and Latin on his own at the back of the class. In 1934, he gained a first at Armstrong College, Durham University, in Newcastle. He married Surya Kumari Lall in 1936. His first was followed by post-graduate research at Oxford University.

Subsequently, Allott began working as a reviewer for the Morning Post and with Geoffrey Grigson on New Verse, to which he was a regular contributor. He also worked as an observer for Charles Madge's social survey group Mass Observation. In 1942 Allott, a conscientious objector, moved with his family to Gateshead for a year as an extramural lecturer.

His first marriage ended in 1950 and he married another lecturer Miriam Allott on 1 June 1951. Allott is the author of a biography of Jules Verne and two collections of poems(see works below),a critical edition of William Habbington's poems,and a play adapted from EM Forster's novel A Room with a View.

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