Hedonistic 1960's playwright, Joe Orton, lived in Noel Road, with his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The pair hit the front pages in 1962, after defacing a large amount of books borrowed from Islington Libraries.
A brief stint in prison didn't seem to harm Orton's reputation, and by 1967, Orton had won the Evening Standard Drama Award, after the huge success of his plays, 'Entertaining Mr Sloane', and 'Loot!' He met with an untimely end later that same year, when Halliwell bludgeoned him to death before killing himself.
For further information on Joe Orton, click on the link under Useful Websites on the right.
Louis MacNeice (1907-63), the Belfast-born poet, lived in Canonbury Park South between 1947 and 1952. MacNeice, a friend and contemporary of reknowned poet W.H. Auden, wrote 'Letters from Iceland' (1937) with Auden and the bestelling 'Autumn Journal' (1939). He was also a prolific broadcaster and playright for the BBC throughout the Second World War and after.
One of England's finest poets, John Milton, moved to Bunhill Row with his third wife in 1670. After the success of 'Paradise Lost', the poet - charged by a desire for fame - began working on 'Paradise Regained' and 'Samson Agonistes'. He died from gout in 1674, and is buried in St Giles, Cripplegate.
Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, (1906-84), was born and brought up in the borough, where his father had started a furniture factory in Pentonville Road. The poet put his home borough on the map with his work, 'Summoned by Bells', which made a great many references to Islington.
Painter, Walter Sickert, spent a lot of time at Highbury Place, and set up a school of painting there. Considered the most influential painter since Turner, Sickert always returned to the borough after long spells on the continent, and even performed at Sadler's Wells.
Page Last Updated: 31 October 2008