John Sutherland



Profile:


Full name: John Sutherland

Area of interest: Education, literature (esp. Victorian fiction, the history of publishing and 20th-century fiction)

Journals: The Guardian

Email:

Website: Guardian.co / John Sutherland

Blog: Comment is free...; Mortar board

Agent: A.M. Heath

Networks:



Biography:
Education: University of Leicester

Academic career: Has taught at universities world-wide, see British Council's BIOGRAPHY
 * Eremitus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College
 * Visiting Professor of California Institute of Technology

Journalistic career: The Observer: Television Critic for nine years (being voted Critic of the Year three times); Internet Columnist, writing in the Business & Media section

Current position/role: Columnist


 * also writes/has written for: comment pieces for The Independent, reviews for New Statesman, regular contributions to other major papers

Other roles: author, photographer

Other activities: literary puzzles and problems

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight: 40 years on - As John Sutherland prepares to leave the halls of academia, he reflects on the - good and bad - changes in higher education over the past 40 years (The Guardian, 5th May 2004)

TV/Radio:

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: Whitbread Biography Award (shortlist) Stephen Spender: The Authorized Biography, 2004

Other:



Books & Debate:

 * Thackeray at Work (1974)
 * Fiction and the Fiction Industry (1978)
 * Mrs. Humphry Ward: Eminent Victorian, Pre-eminent Edwardian (1990)
 * The Life of Walter Scott: A Critical Biography (1995)
 * Is Heathcliff a Murderer? Puzzles in Nineteenth-Century Fiction (1996)
 * Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? More Puzzles in Classic Fiction (1997)
 * Where Was Rebecca Shot? Puzzles, Curiosities and Conundrums in Modern Fiction (1998)
 * Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet? Further Puzzles in Classic Fiction (1999)
 * Last Drink to LA (2001)
 * Stephen Spender: a literary life (2005) OCLC 57398294
 * Victorian Fiction: Writers, Publishers, Readers (reissue, 2005)
 * How to read a novel: a user's guide (2006) OCLC 70831094

See also: British Council - for complete bibliography and book database (reviews)

Latest work: The Boy Who Loved Books (2007) OCLC 84996873

Speaking/Appearances:

Current debate: 

The Guardian:
Column name: John Sutherland

Column remit: Education, Literature

Section:

Role: Columnist

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: Guardian.co / John Sutherland: Education comment | All comment

Commissioning editor:

Day published:

Regularity: Monthly

Column format:


 * also contributes to the arts blog books and Comment is free...

Average length:



Articles:

 * take this out of context, but ...'' - These days it seems every controversial remark has been taken 'out of context'. Time to return the phrase to the literary critics - 27th January 2011
 * injustice for Andrew Motion'' - The literary lynch mob is in a blind fury over Andrew Motion's 'found poem' – but it isn't plagiarism - 10th November 2009
 * have always been 'immoral''' - Poetry has always operated by clique and manipulation – the Padel-Walcott spat is only the latest example - 28th May 2009
 * 10 stories for sitting out swine flu'' - As you pack your bag and head off to a cabin in the Hebrides, what should you take to read as the pandemic panic passes? - 29th April 2009
 * Crowe: poet of our times?'' - 1st April 2009
 * scholarship: a race to the Bottom?'' - how the demands of publishing are conflicting with scholarship on Shakespeare - 21st January 2009
 * Tangled up in blue - Tory leader David Cameron got £20,000 to be the subject of a biography, so you'd think he'd reveal some juicy details - Tuesday, 16th September 2008
 * The safest bet is to scrap the 2009 Sats - Thursday, 11th September 2008
 * A historical year for the Booker prize - Contemporary, urban life is noticeable by its absence from this year's shortlist - Tuesday, 9th September 2008
 * Let's hear it for the autodidact - Sean Connery's memoir is surprising, not least because the actor emerges from its thoughtful pages as self-taught: how inspiring - Sunday, 31st August 2008
 * Losing one's place at the British Library - There's nowhere to sit at the British Library, but don't blame the students - Friday, 22nd August 2008
 * Overseas, overpaying and over here - International students don't just increase the bank balances of British universities, says John Sutherland - the exchange of different ways of learning is also valuable - Friday, 22nd August 2008
 * Plain Jane, please - What exactly were ITV executives thinking when they commissioned Lost in Austen? - Thursday, 21st August 2008
 * Top 10 literary virgins - Some of the greatest authors had never engaged in sexual activity - despite what the BBC would have us believe - Monday, 11th August 2008
 * The Booker longlist - let the arguments commence - There doesn't seem to be any point to the Booker longlist other than its being good for business - Tuesday, 29th July 2008
 * Looking for an e-readership - Sony's e-reader was launched today through Waterstone's. Will this spark a bookish revolution? - Thursday, 24th July 2008
 * A Google map for your library - When it comes to indexing you can't beat the human touch, but search engines are starting to have power over the knowledge we receive - Wednesday, 23rd July 2008
 * Hail Rushdie - But read this year's novel as well as Midnight's Children. It rocks - Friday, 11th July 2008
 * True lies - There are five 'truths' about the current state of higher education that everyone (outside of HE) knows. All are true and all are, to some degree, myths. Let's call them 'tryths' and put them to the test - 7th July 2008
 * Student vote could swing it for Obama - 9th June 2008
 * Students struggle to find a winning hand - Go and enjoy the film 21 - and try to ignore those nagging fears about the looming student loan crunch - 15th May 2008
 * Gown, mortarboard and caned - More and more students are using performance-enhancing drugs. They may technically be legal, but do they have any place in academia? - 7th April 2008
 * Preserve and be damned - In the US, former presidents are so respected that magnificent libraries are dedicated to preserving their legacies. In the UK, we ascribe about as much reverence to a prime ministerial document as we do a used Kleenex - 7th March 2008
 * Dunces are breaking down the doors - British universities may come at the top of international league tables, but they are neglecting their roles as cultural and scientific bulwarks - 7th January 2008



Links:

 * New Statesman: articles (archive)
 * Wikipedia bio