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Melvyn Bragg

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Melvyn Bragg

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1939-10-06 （Carlisle, Cumberland, England）
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Religion
Christianity (cultural)
Residence History
Hampstead, London → Wigton, Cumbria

Career

Occupations
broadcaster, presenter, interviewer, commentator, novelist, screenwriter, peer (life peer)
Active Years
1961-
Affiliations
BBC (former employer, programme production), London Weekend Television (The South Bank Show editor/presenter), University of Leeds (Chancellor 1999–2017), Royal Society (Honorary Fellow), Arts Council-related panels, Garrick Club (member), Chelsea Arts Club (member)
Memberships
Royal Society (Honorary Fellow), Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), Royal Television Society (Vice President / honours), Friends of the British Library (Vice President)
Influenced By
Ken Russell (film director, early collaborator), Matthew Arnold (influence on cultural commentary)
Influenced
A generation of British broadcasting and arts programmes

Education

Wadham College, Oxford
Modern History / Department of History
Degree: BA
Period: 1950年代後半–1961
Year of Graduation: 1961
Country: United Kingdom
Studied Modern History

Awards

Writers' Guild Screenplay Award
1966
Organization: Writers' Guild of Great Britain
Result: 受賞
Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
1968
Work: Without a City Wall
Organization: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
Result: 受賞
Time/Life Silver Pen Award
1970
Work: The Hired Man
Organization: Time/Life
Result: 受賞
Bad Sex in Fiction Award
1993
Work: A Time to Dance
Organization: Literary Review (Bad Sex in Fiction Award)
Result: 受賞
WH Smith Literary Award
2000
Work: The Soldier's Return
Organization: WH Smith
Result: 受賞
Booker Prize (long-listed)
2003
Work: Crossing the Lines
Organization: Booker Prizes
Result: ロングリスト
BAFTA TV Award
1995
Work: An Interview with Dennis Potter
Organization: British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Result: 受賞
BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award
2010
Organization: BAFTA
Result: 受賞
Royal Television Society Lifetime Achievement Award
2015
Organization: Royal Television Society
Result: 受賞
Sky Arts Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
2024
Organization: Sky Arts
Result: 受賞
Ivor Novello Musical Award
1985
Organization: Ivor Novello Awards
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Hired Man

1969 Novel (autobiographical fiction)

A novel set in Cumbria depicting working-class life and family history with autobiographical elements.

working-class lifelocal historymemory

The Soldier's Return

1999 Novel (series)

First volume of a quartet about a returning soldier and his family, exploring recovery and social change.

familyreturning soldierrecovery

The Adventure of English

2003 Non-fiction (history of the English language)

A study tracing the history and development of the English language, associated with a broadcast series.

history of languagecultural exchangepopularisation

Bibliography

  • For Want of a Nail (1965)
  • Without a City Wall (1968)
  • The Hired Man (1969)
  • The Soldier's Return (1999)
  • The Adventure of English (2003)
  • Back In The Day. A Memoir (2022)

Adaptations

  • Contributed to screenplays such as The Music Lovers

Style & Themes

Literary Style
mix of autobiographical fiction and biographical elementsplain, expository narrative voicebroadcast-friendly explanatory prose
Recurring Motifs
Cumbria landscapes and communitiesclass and social mobilitymemory and family history

Health

  • nervous breakdowns / mental health issues
    13歳頃、30代
    Affected his personal life and career temporarily in adolescence and in his 30s; he adopted coping methods such as writing and exploring the outdoors.

Legacy

Melvyn Bragg has been a major figure in British cultural broadcasting, bringing scholarly topics and literature to a wide audience through long-running TV and radio programmes. His work as a writer has provoked mixed critical responses, but his contribution to public understanding of the arts is widely recognised.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society (Honorary Fellow)
  • British Academy (Honorary Fellow)
  • Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)

Archives

  • Leeds University Library Special Collections

In Popular Culture

  • Established cultural programming through long-running shows such as The South Bank Show and In Our Time

Quotes

  • I consider myself a 'believing unbeliever'. I cannot fully cross into belief in a godly eternity, but I have defended Christianity and the cultural value of the King James Bible.
    Source: The Daily Telegraph (essay/interview, 2011) and other public comments (2011)

Trivia

  • Named Melvyn after the actor Melvyn Douglas, according to family accounts.
  • His first wife Marie-Elisabeth Roche died by suicide in 1971.
  • Presenter of In Our Time since 1998; the programme surpassed 1,000 editions by 2023.
  • Made a life peer in 1998 (Baron Bragg) after having been a donor to the Labour Party.