Writer-in-residence to give public reading

The first-ever writer-in-residence in UCL's Department of English Language & Literature, Mr Spufford is working closely with the department for the 2003/2004 academic year.

The appointment is part of a three-year programme of special events hosted by the department, organised by Dr Ardis Butterfield and Professor Danny Karlin, and funded by UCL staff, former students and friends donating through the UCL Friends Programme. Professor Karlin said: "Francis is a very fine writer indeed and we are delighted to have him. His presence, in addition to hosting the special literary events, is really benefiting our students, the department and UCL as a whole."

Mr Spufford is a freelance writer, critic and broadcaster. He is author of three acclaimed works of non-fiction: I May Be Some Time, a cultural history of the British fascination with polar exploration, which won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and The Child that Books Built, a memoir of childhood as a compulsive reader. His latest book, Backroom Boys, was published in November 2003.