JB Priestley's criticism of Birmingham celebrated at Book Festival
Oct 23 2009 by Lorne Jackson, Birmingham Post
A controversial travelogue which was hugely critical of Birmingham on first publication is to be celebrated as part of Birmingham Book Festival.
JB Priestley’s English Journey – which topped the best sellers list 75 years ago – has just been re-released, and the author’s son, Tom, will be in the city this evening, discussing it with television presenter and critic, Stuart Maconie.
In the original volume, Priestley – a prominent public intellectual in his own time – was vitriolic in expressing his dislike for Birmingham, writing: “I saw nothing, not one single tiny thing, that could possibly raise a man’s spirits.
“Possibly what I was seeing was not Birmingham, but our urban and industrial civilisation. The fact remains that it was beastly. It was so many miles of ugliness, squalor, and the wrong kind of vulgarity, the decayed anaemic kind.’
In return, Priestley received a barrage of invective from the local press, including the Birmingham Post.
That didn’t stop the book staying on top of the bestseller lists for many months in 1934.
Lee Hanson is the chairman of the JB Priestley Society, and also took on the editing duties for the newly-published version of the book.
He said: “I’m not sure he could be described as nasty. I think it was actually Priestley just trying to be honest. He was the kind of writer who told it as he saw it. He came from Bradford, which has a strong industrial background, just like Birmingham. So he didn’t have an aversion to looking at heavy industry. However, I think he was surprised by the meanness and bleakness of the landscape around Birmingham, and also the Black Country. And he certainly didn’t like the idea that people were used as machines and pawns for wealthy industrialists, who then went to live in nicer areas themselves.”
Priestley is most famous as the author of the classic play, An Inspector Calls. However, he was a prolific writer, authoring numerous plays, essays and novels, until his death in 1984, aged 89.
He was also an industrious and accomplished broadcaster. Ironically he died in Stratford, not too far from the city he professed to despise.
Hanson – who also works as a teacher in Priestley’s native Bradford – believes the distinguished author would have found more to favour in Birmingham if his visit had taken place in 2009. “Regeneration is the buzz word in the Birmingham of today,” he said. “The modern image of the city is a place that has been revitalised and re-energised. Places such as the Bull Ring have changed so much, it is quite incredible. I’m sure Priestley would have been impressed.”
n English Journey – Priestley’s Classic – 75 Years On will be remembered this evening at 7pm at Birmingham Conservatoire, Paradise Place. Tickets are £5 (£3.75 concession). For more information, www.birminghambookfestival.org. English Journey is available from Great Northern Books (£25).
