News release – embargoed till 0001 Tuesday September 7th 2021
- Blue plaque bid for Anthony Burgess’s Chiswick house turned down again.
- Chiswick Book Festival to debate the decision and invite other names for blue plaques.
- Portrait of Burgess by Jane Bown to be auctioned today at Chiswick Auctions (photo, below right)
Supporters of the bid to secure a blue plaque for the Chiswick home of writer Anthony Burgess have expressed surprise and disappointment that the application has been turned down for a second time. Burgess, best known for his dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange, lived at 24 Glebe Street between 1963 and 1968, and wrote several of his most important novels there.
The news is announced today ahead of a debate at the Chiswick Book Festival entitled “Anthony Burgess: Why No Blue Plaque in Chiswick? And if not him – who?”
A portrait of Burgess by the celebrated photographer Jane Bown is being auctioned this afternoon in Chiswick. The 1992 photograph is Lot 241 in the 19th and 20th Century Photography sale at Chiswick Auctions, starting at 2pm.
Professor Andrew Biswell, director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, said “Anthony Burgess was one of the major British writers of the 20th century, but his achievements have gone largely unrecognised in the country of his birth. When English Heritage turned down our first application in 2015, they said we could re-nominate him after five years, rather than the usual ten. His international reputation has grown since then, so we are very surprised and disappointed.”
In a letter to the Foundation, the curatorial director of English Heritage, Anna Eavis, wrote that its Blue Plaques Panel felt “the durability and extent of (Burgess’s) literary impact was not sufficiently clear” and that “much of his career was spent outside London”.
The former literary editor of the Sunday Times and director of the Cheltenham Literature Festival, John Walsh, described the first rejection in 2015 as “bone-headed”. Writing in the Independent, he said: “If Anthony Burgess doesn’t merit a blue plaque, few do.”
Walsh will debate the decision at the Chiswick Book Festival this Sunday, September 12th, alongside Anna Eavis, who will explain how the blue plaque system works, ways in which English Heritage is encouraging greater diversity, and how the public can put forward names. See English Heritage: London’s Blue Plaques.
Ahead of the session, the Festival is inviting the public to suggest authors they would nominate for a blue plaque, in not more than 30 words. The best entry will win a vintage edition of a Burgess novel from Foster Books, which sells rare books in Chiswick High Road. See details below.
The latest bid for a Burgess plaque was supported by academics, historians, local residents and the director of the Chiswick Book Festival, Torin Douglas. He said: “One reason English Heritage objects to Burgess is that much of his career was spent outside London, yet it has awarded a plaque to Gerald Durrell’s house in Dulwich, where he lived at the age of three (See Guardian article). And with the new blue plaque for The Muppets creator Jim Henson, there will be plenty to debate!”
Burgess is one of several Chiswick authors being highlighted at this week’s Festival. Nancy Mitford is the focus of the opening event at Chiswick House, local celebrity Clare Balding will speak on Friday, and 20 writers will talk for two minutes each at the Waterstones Local Authors Party this evening, Tuesday September 7th. Tickets are on sale here.
More information from Torin Douglas, director, Chiswick Book Festival. m 07860 422992
Blue Plaques Competition
The Chiswick Book Festival invites you to nominate an author you would nominate for a blue plaque, in not more than 30 words. The best entry will win a vintage edition of a Burgess novel from Foster Books, which sells rare books in Chiswick High Road.
To comply with English Heritage criteria, the author must have a connection with a London building and have been dead for at least 20 years. See English Heritage: Propose a Plaque.
Please email your entries to admin@chiswickbookfestival.net or send them to: Blue Plaques Competition, Parish Office, St Michael & All Angels Church, Priory Avenue, London W4 1TX by Monday September 20th 2021. The judges’ decision will be final.