Broadcaster, writer and novelist Melvyn Bragg was born on 6 October, 1939 in Wigton, Cumbria, in the north of England. He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he read Modern History and began his broadcasting career as a producer for the BBC in 1961.
Since 1967 he has pursued a distinguished career as both a writer and broadcaster.
He has been writer, editor and presenter of The South Bank Show for London Weekend Television (LWT) since 1978, and has been Controller of Arts at LWT since 1990 (Head of Arts 1982-90). He presented BBC Radio 4's Start the Week for ten years until he was made a Life Peer (Lord Bragg of Wigton) in 1998.
Among his many public roles, Melvyn Bragg is Chancellor of Leeds University (since 1999), President of the National Campaign for the Arts (since 1986) and a Governor of the London School of Economics (since 1997). He was made Domus Fellow, St Catherine' College, Oxford, in 1990. He became a member of the Arts Council Literature Panel in 1969 and subsequently became Chairperson. He was also presenter of the recent BBC radio series The Routes of English, a history of the English language.
A prolific novelist, he is also the author of a number of television scripts and film screenplays, including Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973 (with Norman Jewison), Isadora, and Clouds of Glory with Ken Russell. His novels include The Hired Man (1969), adapted as a musical in 1984, and winner of the Time/Life Silver Pen Award; The Maid of Buttermere (1987); A Time to Dance (1990), adapted for television in 1992; and The Soldier's Return (1999), winner of the WH Smith Literary Award, which, together with its sequels, A Son of War (2001), and Crossing the Lines (2003), follows the fortunes of a working-class Cumbrian family during and after the Second World War.
His most recent books are Twelve Books that Changed the World (2006), and a new novel, Remember Me (2008), the story of a love affair between two students, one French and one English.
Melvyn Bragg lives in London.
For Want of a Nail Secker & Warburg, 1965
The Second Inheritance Secker & Warburg, 1966
Without a City Wall Secker & Warburg, 1968
The Hired Man Secker & Warburg, 1969
A Place in England Secker & Warburg, 1970
The Nerve Secker & Warburg, 1971
Josh Lawton Secker & Warburg, 1972
The Silken Net Secker & Warburg, 1974
Speak for England: An Essay on England 1900-1975 Secker & Warburg, 1975
Speak for England Secker & Warburg, 1976
A Christmas Child Secker & Warburg, 1977
Autumn Manoeuvres Secker & Warburg, 1978
Kingdom Come Secker & Warburg, 1980
My Favourite Stories of Lakeland (editor) Lutterworth Press, 1981
Land of the Lakes Secker & Warburg, 1983
Love and Glory Secker & Warburg, 1983
Cumbria in Verse (editor) Secker & Warburg, 1984
Laurence Olivier Hutchinson, 1984
The Maid of Buttermere Hodder & Stoughton, 1987
Rich: The Life of Richard Burton Hodder & Stoughton, 1988
A Time to Dance Hodder & Stoughton, 1990
Crystal Rooms Hodder & Stoughton, 1992
Credo Hodder & Stoughton, 1996
On Giant's Shoulders Hodder & Stoughton, 1998
The Soldier's Return Hodder & Stoughton, 1999
A Son of War Sceptre, 2001
The Routes of English BBC Education, 2001
Crossing the Lines Sceptre, 2003
The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language Hodder & Stoughton, 2003
Twelve Books that Changed the World Hodder & Stoughton, 2006
Remember Me Sceptre, 2008
1968 Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize Without a City Wall
1970 Time/Life Silver Pen Award The Hired Man
2000 WH Smith Literary Award The Soldier's Return
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