Maurice Richardson (1907–1978) was an English journalist and short story writer.

Life and career

Richardson was born to a wealthy family."Odd Man Out", Mary Manning,''Irish Times'', 4 August 1978 (p.11) Review of ''Fits and Starts''. As a child, Richardson was sent to

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

, which he disliked; he later recalled his education in his 1968 book ''Little Victims''. He studied at Oxford in the 1920s, where he befriended the poet Brian Howard. After leaving Oxford, he spent some time as an amateur boxer, and wrote his first novel, ''A Strong Man Needed'', a humorous story about a female boxer. Richardson began his journalistic career in the 1930s. After joining the Communist Party, Richardson became a contributor to '' Left Review'' and a member of the London-based left-wing Writers and Readers Group which included Randall Swingler,

Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as ''Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and ''Kingdoms of Elfin''. Life Sylvia Townsend Warner wa ...

, Mulk Raj Anand, Arthur Calder-Marshall and Rose Macaulay. In the late 1940s, Richardson became a contributor to the British magazine ''

Lilliput Lilliput may refer to: Geography * Lilliput (townland), a townland in County Westmeath, Ireland * Lilliput, Dorset, a district in the town of Poole in Dorset, United Kingdom * Lilliput Glacier, the smallest named glacier in the Sierra Nevada of C ...

''. Here he published a series of

humorous fantasy Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on and parodies of other works of fantasy. Literature The subgenre rose ...

stories about a "Dwarf Surrealist Boxer" named Engelbrecht. These tales were illustrated by several noted artists, including Ronald Searle, Gerard Hoffnung and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

. The series was collected in book form as ''The Exploits of Engelbrecht'' in 1950; it was later reprinted in 1977 and in a deluxe edition by Savoy Books in 2000. David Langford has praised ''The Exploits of Engelbrecht'' for their "enjoyable absurdist humour"; J. G. Ballard also admired the stories, describing them as "English surrealism at its greatest. Witty and fantastical, Maurice Richardson was light years ahead of his time. Unmissable."From the Vault
"Two knockout accounts of the

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ' ...

– Ali rematch", 22 May 1966. Report on the event by

Hugh McIlvanney Hugh McIlvanney (2 February 1934 – 24 January 2019) was a Scottish sports journalist who had long stints with the British Sunday newspapers '' The Observer'' (30 years until 1993) and then 23 years with '' The Sunday Times'' (1993–2016). A ...

and Maurice Richardson. ''The Guardian'', 23 May 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2013. After leaving the Communist Party in the 1950s, Richardson worked as a book reviewer. Richardson also became known for arranging meetings between himself and other writers in London pubs. Guests at these meetings included Jeffrey Bernard, Daniel Farson, Swingler, Lionel Bart, Frank Norman and

Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to Hu ...

. In the 1960s, he also worked as the '' Observer's'' television critic and wrote sports journalism for '' The Guardian''. Richardson also wrote a study of

snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joi ...

lizards Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia althou ...

and other

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

entitled ''The Fascination of Reptiles''."Book Review: ''The Fascination of Reptiles''". ''Pittsburgh Press'', 21 March 1974, (p.115). After Richardson's death, a posthumous collection of journalism, ''Fits and Starts'', was issued. Reviewing ''Fits and Starts'', Mary Manning praised the book, particularly Richardson's essay on the Moors murders, which she described as "a masterpiece in this genre".

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''A Strong Man Needed'' (1931) * ''My Bones will keep'' (1932) * ''The Bad Companions'' (1936) * ''The Exploits of Engelbrecht, abstracted from the Chronicles of the Surrealist Sportsman's Club'' (1950) * ''Underworld Nights'' (1956) (published under the pseudonym Charles Raven)

Non-Fiction

* ''London's Burning: An account of the experiences of an Auxiliary Fireman'' (1941). * ''Thanatos : a modern symposium'' (with Philip Toynbee) (1963) * ''Little Victims'' (1968) * ''The Fascination of Reptiles'' (Illustrated by Shaun Milne ) (1973) * ''Fits & starts : Collected Pieces'' (introduction by Julian Symons)

As editor

* ''Novels of Mystery from the Victorian Age'' (1945). Contains: Sheridan Le Fanu (''Carmilla''), Anon (''

The Notting Hill Mystery ''The Notting Hill Mystery'' (1862–1863) is an English-language detective novel written under the pseudonym Charles Felix, with illustrations by George du Maurier. The author's identity was never revealed, but several critics have suggested po ...

''), Wilkie Collins (''The Woman in White''), Robert Louis Stevenson (''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''). * ''Midnight Tales'' by

W. F. Harvey William Fryer Harvey AM (14 April 1885 – 4 June 1937), known as W. F. Harvey, was an English writer of short stories, most notably in the macabre and horror genres. Among his best-known stories are " August Heat" and "The Beast with Five F ...

(1946) * ''Best Mystery Stories'' (1968) * ''Old Saint Paul's'' by William Harrison Ainsworth (1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Maurice English literary critics English male journalists English short story writers English fantasy writers 1907 births 1978 deaths 20th-century English novelists English male short story writers English male novelists 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers