Literary authors, parliamentary reporters
Subtitle: Johnson, Coleridge, Hazlitt, Dickens
By: Nikki Hessell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 195
ISBN-13: 9781107013575
Subjects: Career in journalism; Great Britain; LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Reporters and reporting; Great Britain. Parliament; History; Journalism and literature
Description: "Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt and Charles Dickens all worked as parliamentary reporters, but their experiences in the press gallery have not received much scrutiny. Nikki Hessell's study is the first work to consider all four of these canonical writers as gallery reporters, providing a detailed picture of this intriguing episode in their careers. Hessell challenges preconceived notions about the role that emergent literary genius played in their success as reporters, arguing instead that they were consummate gallery professionals who adapted themselves to the journalistic standards of their day. That professional background fed in to their creative work in unexpected ways. By drawing on a wealth of evidence in letters, diaries and the press, this study provides fresh insights into the ways in which four great writers learnt the craft of journalism and brought those lessons to bear on their career as literary authors"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Preface; 1. Introduction: reporting and the individual talent; 2. Samuel Johnson: beyond Lilliput; 3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the freedom of the gallery; 4. William Hazlitt and the real eloquence of the British senate; 5. Charles Dickens and the ghost of speeches past; 6. Conclusion: taking parliamentary reporting seriously; Bibliography; Index.