Anthony Charles Hockley Smith (born Anthony Charles Smith, 31 October 1935) is a British novelist and playwright from

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

Early life and career

Smith was educated at Hampton Grammar School and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where he read Modern Languages. On starting his writing career, to distinguish himself from other writers of the same name he added the initial "H", representing his grandmother's maiden name, Hockley. Since 1960 his home has been in Bristol. From 1965 to 1969 he was Senior Research Associate at

Richard Hoggart Herbert Richard Hoggart (24 September 1918 – 10 April 2014) was an English academic whose career covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with emphasis on British popular culture. Early life Hoggart was bor ...

Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was a research centre at the University of Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1964 by Stuart Hall and Richard Hoggart, its first director. From 1964 to 2002, it played a critical role in dev ...

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, and he has held visiting posts at the Universities of Bristol, Bournemouth, and Texas (Austin). From 1964 to 1973 he did literary work for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, and later some for the National Theatre. In 1971,

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

invited him to Iran for three months to write a book about the ''

Orghast ''Orghast'' was an experimental play based on the myth of Prometheus, written by Peter Brook and Ted Hughes, and performed in 1971 at the Festival of Arts of Shiraz-Persepolis, which was held annually from 1967 to 1977. It was performed in two pa ...

'' project that Brook and

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

were undertaking. He was a director of the

Cheltenham Literature Festival ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for th ...

in 1978, 1979, and 1999. He has two daughters, Imogen and Sophie, and a son, Oliver Smith.

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Crowd'' (1965)

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of List of awards and nominations ...

: B0006BWG2S *''Zero Summer'' (1971) *''Treatment'' (1976) *''Sebastian the Navigator'' (1985) *''The Dangerous Memoir of Citizen Sade'' (2000)

Thrillers

*''The Jericho Gun'' (1977) *''Extra Cover'' (1981)

Novelisations

*'' Edward & Mrs. Simpson'' (British TV series) (1978) *''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was prod ...

'' (movie) (1982) *''

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

'' (movie) (in German and Italian, 1983) . English-language edition (2012) . *'' Lady Jane'' (movie) (1985) *''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

'' (movie) (1986)

Non-fiction

*''Orghast at Persepolis'': An account of the experiment in theatre directed by

and written by

(1972) and (1973) *''Paper voices: The popular press and social change, 1935–1965'' (with Elizabeth Immirzi and Trevor Blackwell) (1975) *''Dickens of London'' (biography, ghosted for

Wolf Mankowitz Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for four novels— '' Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953), ''My Old Man's a Dustman' ...

) (1976) *''Poems'', selected with a foreword by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

(2009) *''WordSmith'', a memoir (2012) Stories and poems for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio, ''

Transatlantic Review Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

'', ''The Listener'', etc.

Selected plays

*''Albert's Bridge Extended'' (co-written with

), Edinburgh Festival (1978) *''Master of Letters'', The Playwrights Company at the New Vic, Bristol (1979) *''God's Wonderful Railway'',

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

(1985) *''Pericles'' (reconstruction of Shakespeare's), Theater Emory, Atlanta (1987);

Show of Strength Theatre Company Show of Strength Theatre Company is a Bristol-based theatre company which has produced new and forgotten works since 1986 in a range of venues in Bristol and the South West. The company is funded by Arts Council England and Bristol City Council ...

, Bristol (1990) *''Up The Feeder, Down The Mouth'',

(1997, 2001). Text published 2001 ; illustrated edition, 2012, *
Albert’s Bridge – the Musical
' (composer David Lyon), Shaftesbury Community Theatre (1999) *''The Redcliffe Hermit'', Head Heart + 2 Fingers, Bristol (2005). Text published 2005, *''Doctor Love'' (Molière-based musical, composer David Lyon, Tobacco Factory, Bristol (2008) *''Walking The Chains'', The Passenger Shed, Bristol (2015)

TV and cinema

With his wife, Smith was the subject of

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing feature films such as '' Point Blank'' (1967), '' Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), '' Zardoz'' ...

's six-part BBC docudrama ''The Newcomers'' (1964). He wrote and presented about 200 arts programmes and documentaries for HTV and

. Six of his plays have been televised. Three of his screenplays have been published.

Editing and journalism

*At Cambridge, he edited the literary magazine ''delta'' and was Arts Editor of ''Varsity'', the student newspaper. He was co-editor of ''Universities' Poetry'' (anthologies). With

, Smith edited an Arts Page in the ''

Western Daily Press The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mon ...

'' in 1960–1963. He has also reported cricket for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', reviewed theatre for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and written features for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', ''Telegraph Magazine'', ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and s ...

'', ''The Listener'', and the ''London Magazine''. *He contributed an essay, "The Art of Friendship", to

Derek Balmer Derek Balmer (born 28 December 1934) is a British artist and photographer, Past President of the Royal West of England Academy (2001–10) and Pro-Chancellor of the University of the West of England (2001–10) to Chancellor Dame Elizabeth But ...

: ''A Singular Vision'' (Sansom & Co, 2012).

References

External links

*
A. C. H. Smith Papers
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, A. C. H. 1935 births Living people 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British novelists Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge British dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights British male novelists People educated at Hampton School Writers from Bristol