J. R. Ackerley (
November 4,
1896 -
June 4,
1967, full legal name Joe Ackerley) was arts editor of
The Listener[?], the arts publication of the
BBC, from 1935 to 1959, and an important author in his own right. At
The Listener he discovered many young writers who were to become important, including
Philip Larkin, whom
The Listener was the first to publish. He was one of
Francis King[?]'s two mentors (the other being
C. H. B. Kitchin).
As a writer he was known as an elegant stylist and frank observer; his one novel is also notable for its solid intellectual foundation and its masterly construction. He published only four books; his production may have been limited by extensive family responsibilities, including supporting his sister, mother, and aunt. The books are:
- Hindoo Holiday (1932), an account of his brief engagement as secretary to an Indian rajah (the spelling was the publisher's; Ackerley preferred Hindu).
- My Dog Tulip (1956), an account of how he acquired and lived with his dog Queenie (the dog's name was changed when the editors of Commentary, who had purchased an excerpt, became concerned that using the dog's real name might encourage jokes about Ackerley's well-known homosexuality).
- We Think the World of You (1960), a fictionalized account of how Ackerley acquired Queenie, and learned to live with her; winner of the first W. H. Smith prize.
- My Father and Myself (1968), a memoir, published posthumously.
His play The Prisoners of War (1925) was well received Britain and the United States in the 1920s and 1930s.
Ackerley willed his royalties to a fund to establish the annual J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography.