My Life and Times

Jerome K. Jerome struggled against poverty and obscurity, not to mention his improbable name, for many years before “Three Men In A Boat” made him a celebrity, and the friend of other celebrities. A man of deep human sympathies and principles, he lived through, and engaged with, a time – like our own – of unprecedented changes and inventions, most of which are commonplace now. Much of his writing, especially for the theatre, has now been forgotten but a year before his death, in 1927, he published his autobiography, in the popular style he pioneered – still in daily use by journalists.

Brian Wright was born in the East End and after Oxford went on to RADA. After several years in repertory, the RSC, and West End, he began writing as well as acting. His writing has won two Sony Awards, a BAFTA nomination and a fellowship at Bristol University. His books, The Canal Children and Penge Papers are published by Heinemann, Souvenir and Pan. His solo performance, Black Snow, was presented at the Edinburgh and Cheltenham Festivals and on BBC radio and his solo performance, Shaking Spears for Shakespeare is still touring.