Jonathan Smith (novelist)

Jonathan Smith (born 1942) is an English novelist, writer and teacher. A career English teacher, he is best known for his novels and has written numerous radio plays.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Gloucestershire to a family of teachers originally from the Rhondda Valley in South Wales.^[1] He was educated at Christ College, Brecon and read English at St John's College, Cambridge.

Career

Smith took up his first teaching job at Loretto School near Edinburgh in Scotland. After a brief stint at Melbourne Grammar School in Australia, he taught at Tonbridge School for the rest of his career and was head of English for 17 years.^[1] He published several novels during his teaching career before retiring in 2003 to concentrate on writing. His former pupils at Tonbridge include Sir Anthony Seldon, musician Kit Hesketh-Harvey, novelist Vikram Seth,^[2] poet Christopher Reid and actor Dan Stevens.^[3]

Personal life

Smith and his wife Gillian have a daughter and a son. His son Ed was his former pupil at Tonbridge and is a former England cricketer and published author.

In 2006, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, he and his son went on a trip to India.^[2] It was the inspiration for his book The Following Game, published in 2011.^[4]

His first novel Wilfred and Eileen was adapted for BBC television into a four part serial.

He also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Summer in February, starring Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning and Dan Stevens, which was released in June 2013.^[5]

His latest novel The Churchill Secret KBO has been adapted for a feature-length movie starring Michael Gambon to be screened around Christmas 2015 on ITV.

Bibliography

Novels

• Wilfred and Eileen (1976)
• The English Lover (1977)
• In Flight (1980)
• Come Back (1985)
• Summer in February. Abacus (1996). ISBN 978-0349107462
• Night Windows. Abacus (2004). ISBN 978-0349115313^[6][7]
• The Churchill Secret KBO. Abacus (2015).

Autobiographical

• The Learning Game: A Teacher's Inspirational Story. Abacus (2002). ISBN 978-0349113883
• The Following Game. Peridot Press (2011). ISBN 978-1-908095-01-5

Radio dramas

Over twenty plays including:

• The Trenches Trip (BBC Radio 4)
• The Tennis Court (Radio 4)
• Portrait of Winston (Radio 4)

References