Philip Hoare


Philip Hoare is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme artist-in-residence at the Marine Institute, Plymouth University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011.

Name

He was born Patrick Moore. He chose the name Philip Hoare to avoid confusion with astronomer Patrick Moore:

Life

Hoare was born in Southampton and attended St Mary's College.
In 1982–83, he ran the record label Operation Twilight, a UK-based subsidiary of the Belgian Les Disques du Crépuscule, which launched the career of the Pale Fountains. In 2009 he exhibited artworks made with Angela Cockayne at Viktor Wynd Fine Art Inc in London

Works

Hoare is the author of ten works of non-fiction:
He has also edited The Sayings of Noël Coward.
Hoare has co-authored or contributed to the following publications:
He has been interested in cetaceans since early childhood. He wrote and presented the BBC Arena film The Hunt for Moby-Dick, and directed three films for BBC's Whale Night.
Between 2011 and 2012, his self-professed 'whale obsession' led him to create the Moby Dick Big Read. The project, curated by Hoare and artist Angela Cockayne, involved the construction of an online audiobook of all 135 chapters of Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick; or, the Whale. The readings were delivered by a multitude of celebrities, including Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry, Sir David Attenborough, John Waters, Simon Callow and David Cameron, and accompanied by images from contemporary artists such as Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, George Shaw and Susan Hiller. The readings were uploaded to the Moby Dick Big Read website, with one chapter available for download per day from 16 September 2012. All downloads are free but donations are invited to 'Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society'.
Hoare is a contributor to the animal news site, The Dodo.