John Holloway (1 August 1920 – 29 August 1999) was an English poet, critic and academic. Born in Croydon, South London (but then part of Surrey) and educated at the County School at Beckenham in Kent and the University of Oxford (New College), he served in the Royal Artillery and Intelligence during the Second World War and then pursued an academic career. He was a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, from 1946–60 and of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1955–82, becoming a Life Fellow on his retirement. He held a post as lecturer in English at Aberdeen University (1949–54), and then moved to the University of Cambridge, where he was successively Lecturer in English (1954–66), Reader (1966-72), and Professor of Modern English (1972–82). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Litera