C. W. Blubberhouse

Fictional poet and author

Chapman Winston Blubberhouse is a fictional poet and author, created by R. B. Russell and Mark Valentine in 1993.^[1][2] In 1993, Russell published a Brief Biography of Blubberhouse which was privately circulated, and thereafter letters started to appear under the name of C. W. Blubberhouse in the pages of The Independent,^[3] Daily Mail,^[4] The Stage,^[5] and Time Out,^[6] among other national UK newspapers and magazines. Blubberhouse was also listed in an Oxford college yearbook and appeared in a literary guide.

In 1994, The Sunday Times attacked the Times Literary Supplement for publishing a letter from Blubberhouse,^[7] and sent a reporter to the correspondent's address to investigate. They claimed Blubberhouse was "too good to be true", and declared him a hoax.^[8]

At the funeral of Oxford bookseller Rupert Cook in March, 1999, it was revealed that he had been partly responsible for the Blubberhouse letters.^[9] (It has subsequently been revealed that Roger Dobson was his co-conspirator.) Russell appeared on John Peel's Home Truths programme on Radio 4 in 2001 to tell the story.^[10] In a follow-up comment on Home Truths a correspondent used the adjective "Blubberhoused" to suggest that somebody had been hoaxed.

• "C.W. Blubberhouse", C.W. Blubberhouse.