In Praise of a Teacher who died

Malcolm Bradbury, UK novelist, critic and university teacher, died in late November 2000. Twenty years ago he founded the first UK MA course in creative writing at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.

On 28-11-00, his ex student, Erica Wagner, wrote an appreciation of him in the the Times. Here are some snippets of her portrait of a man who seems to have been a deeply and committedly humanistic teacher:

"……………….. He was a generous, stimulating teacher. He listened, he suggested, he tried to shape and mould rather than bend and break.

He was an immensely kind man who took a real interest in his students. He wanted us to get on with each other, to have a good time on the course, as much as he wanted us to be great writers.

……………………….Everything was possible- and what's more anything was possible for us. Writing is a solitary business. To have the belief of a man such as Malcolm was like being given an extra spine…………………….

The winter I spent in Norwich surely shaped me as a writer. Malcolm's example, as novelist, critic, academic- and simply as a fellow human being - was a noble one to wish to follow……………………………………….