Goodbye To All That

Although a familiar as a poet and already with several books to his name, in 1927 Robert gained public recognition for the biography of his friend Lawrence of Arabia. He followed this in 1929 at the age of 34 by his war memoir Good-bye to All That which was an instant success. He broke with his former life and moved to Mallorca.

Poet, Storyteller, Soldier, Mythographer, Novelist, Essayist

As a historical novelist his “I Claudius” novels were run-away best sellers. “Few incidents here given are wholly unsupported by historical authority or some sort” he says. Later, the historical interpretation when investigating the recovery of Golden Fleece led him deep into Mythology.

Myths and Ancient Religions

Robert’s interest in myths and ancient religions (including the Bible) led him to his seminal study: The White Goddess. This in turn led him to translating classics including Apuleius’s The Golden Ass , Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars and Homer’s Iliad, and to his brilliant recompilation The Greek Myths.

A Poet at the Service of his Muse

Graves saw himself a Poet at the service of his Muse. Writing prose was an occupation which allowed him to continue in her service. Among many other international distinctions he was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, and he received the Queen’s Medal for Poetry.

Soldier-Poet of the World War I

Robert Graves fought in the First World War. His first book of poems Over the Brazier was published shortly before being severely wounded and left for dead on the Somme battlefield. He was not quite 21 years old and already a captain and company commander.

Goodbye To All That

Robert's Life

Life Statement

“Since the age of fifteen poetry has been my ruling passion and I have never intentionally undertaken any task or formed any relationship that seemed inconsistent with poetic principles: which has sometime won me the reputation of an eccentric.”

(The White Goddess)

Born in 1895; Anglo-Irish father, German mother. Soldier-poet in WWI with his friends Sassoon and Owen. After an unsuccessful first marriage and four children he wrote Good-bye to All That and retired to Majorca with poet Laura Riding (1929). There he wrote his best selling I, Claudius (1934). Rarely covering the same subject twice, his novel The Golden Fleece led him to his ground breaking thesis on ancient religions The White Goddess (1948) and on to his Greek Myths. He was a biblical scholar, biographer, translator, but above all a poet. He published over 1200 poems. He was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford (1961), and was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Poetry (1968). He is buried in Deià, Majorca.

SIXTTEENTH INTERNATIONAL ROBERT GRAVES CONFERENCE

The Robert Graves Society is pleased to announce that the Sixteenth International Robert Graves Conference will be held at St John’s College, Oxford, 15-18 September 2024. The theme of the conference will be ‘Robert Graves and the Popular Imagination’.

In this, the 90th anniversary of the publication of Robert Graves’s massively popular and widely adapted novel, I, Claudius, the Robert Graves Society is hosting a conference focusing on ‘Robert Graves and the Popular Imagination’. The conference will explore Graves and his contemporaries in relation to the broader popular cultures of which their work is an essential part. Many of Graves’s books continue to reach large and diverse audiences: his Good-bye to All That is arguably the best known of all WW1 autobiographies, and his account of the Greek Myths has been a gateway to the classics for generations. His life was lived both in and out of the public eye, and his high-profile friendships with very differently famous people are intriguing: T. E. Lawrence, Ava Gardner, Spike Milligan to name but three.

Robert Graves conferences traditionally embrace the creative in addition to the critical, and the conference will also host musical and literary events to be announced in due course, along with keynote speakers.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Proposals are invited for papers (20 minutes) on relevant topics relating to Robert Graves and/or his contemporaries. These could include but are not limited to:

Twentieth century literature and popular culture

Robert Graves and popular genres, for example, historical fiction, children’s literature

Popularising the Classics

Popularising ancient history and/or mythology

Adaptations of Robert Graves’s life and/or works into other media – Film, TV, Radio etc.

Robert Graves’s friendships and/or collaborations with popular figures

Graves, fame and infamy

Robert Graves in the Media

Robert Graves and cultural tourism

Twentieth century literature and archives, museums, artefacts

Writers and the public eye

Literature and Celebrity

Please send an abstract (max. 250 words) by 31 May 2024 to the conference director and President of the Robert Graves Society:

Professor Charles Mundye, FEA
Head of the Department of Culture and Media
College of Social Sciences and Arts
Sheffield Hallam University
City Campus
Sheffield S1 1WB
email: c.mundye@shu.ac.uk

President, Robert Graves Society
https://robertgraves.org/rg-society

Fellow, English Association
https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/english-association

PARTICIPANTS

The conference is open to all. It will be of interest to academics, teachers, research students, and anyone else who is interested in the life and writings of Robert Graves and his circle. The series of Robert Graves conferences have built up a reputation for their scholarly excellence and their friendly dialogue among participants from a wide variety of backgrounds, both lay and academic, and the Graves family itself.

To register an interest in attending the conference as a non-speaker, please e-mail the Robert Graves Society Treasurer and Secretary Patrick Villa: pjvilla@aol.com.

Image Galleries

Family and friends. Photos, paintings, etc. First Edition book Covers.

Video & Audio

Readings, Interviews, TV & Film.

Poem of the Week

Random poem from a selection of his best.

Letter of the Week

Random letter from O’Prey’s published Selected Letters

Robert Graves Society

Meetings, conferences, photos and more.

Foundation & Museum

Robert Graves’s House and Foundation in Mallorca.

Robert Graves Review

A publication for scholars and academics, now online.

Online Resources

Bibliography, diaries, Location of documents, Texts of letters.

Quotes, sayings and loose verses

A well chosen anthology is a complete dispensary of medicine for the more common mental disorders, and may be used as much for prevention as cure.

Robert Graves

Nine-tenths of English poetic literature is the result either of vulgar careerism or of a poet trying to keep his hand in. Most poets are dead by their late twenties. The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly: no poem ever attains such carat purity.

Robert Graves - Address, January 1960, to the Oxford University Philological Society. "Poetic Gold," Oxford Addresses on Poetry (1962). Graves had been awarded a gold medal for services to poetry by the National Poetry Society of America.

The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good — in spite of all the people who say he is very good.

Robert Graves Quoted in The Observer [London] (6 December 1964)

A well chosen anthology is a complete dispensary of medicine for the more common mental disorders, and may be used as much for prevention as cure.

Robert Graves

The Laureare tells of Robert Graves's early life which caused him to write Good-bye to All That and to move to Mallorca - Now available on DVD.

Books by Robert Graves and Biographies

Find novels and poems by Robert Graves or biographies from various publishing houses.