was unable to provide him lodging, but suggested that he travel to Wigan, "for there are the colliers and they’re good stuff." Although he was partially responsible for Orwell's visit to Wigan, Hilton was not impressed by the Road to Wigan Pier. In his unpublished autobiography Caliban Boswelling, Hilton criticized the book, claiming that although Orwell “went to Wigan…he might well have stayed away” as he only “wasted money, energy and wrote piffle.” Hilton claimed that Orwell “wanted to get at the pith but didn’t know how, and failed,” and as a result he produced “colour that wasn’t worth the paint mixes.” He blamed Orwell's failure partially on his inability to blend in with the working-class communities he visited, being a "tall, ex-officer type, Eton, modest, non-hard-boozing, non hard cursing, non crude gamestering, no locale in the dialect sense.” Despite this disagreement, Orwell and Hilton continued corresponding and reading each other's work. "Orwell reviewed English Ways enthusiastically in the Adelphi in 1940 and discussed Hilton’s work with Desmond Hawkins in ‘The Proletarian Writer’, broadcast by the BBC in the same year and reprinted in The Listener." He repeatedly attempted to get Hilton's work published, introducing him to publishers and readers when he could. Further reading An archive of Hilton's work and papers is held at Nottingham University Libraries. A description of the archive holding can be found at Archives Hub. Middlesex Polytechnic History Journal published a special issue on Hilton in 1985. It includes essays by Andy Croft, Dan Charlton, Clive Flea, and others, and contains a sample chapter of Caliban Shrieks. In addition to writing an article for the Middlesex Polytechnic special issue, Andy Croft mentions Hilton in his book Red Letter Days: British Fiction in the 1930s. Hilton also features in a chapter of Working-Class Writing: Theory and Practice. The Review of English Studies has published one article on Hilton and his relationship to George Orwell. After Hilton's death, Croft advertised in the Rochdale Observer hoping to find any living relatives of Hilton's, but was unsuccessful. More recently, other scholars have tried to find the copyright holder for Hilton's works so they can be republished. References People from Oldham British travel writers 20th-century British male writers British essayists British autobiographers British male novelists British non-fiction writers 20th-century British novelists Alumni of Ruskin College 1900 births 1983 deaths People from Rochdale Plasterers 20th-century essayists British builders Male non-fiction writers