Writing Home

Writing Home is a wonderfully entertaining collection of Alan Bennett's prose writings. Bringing together his diaries for 1980-1995, as well as the journal he kept during the production of his first play, Forty Years On, which starred John Gielgud, the book also includes accounts of his many television plays and, at its heart, The Lady in the Van, the true account of Miss Shepherd, a homeless tramp who took up residence in Bennett's garden and stayed for fifteen years. From his now-legendary address at Russell Harty's memorial service to recollections of growing up in Leeds, Writing Home gives us an unforgettable portrait of one of England's leading playwrights.

'Quite wonderfully funny.' Observer

'Irresistibly well written, wry, witty, every sentence a pleasure... Humane, observant and sharply intelligent.' Sunday Times

'A luminous and compassionate collection of pieces from one of our best writers.' Mail on Sunday

'Simply the funniest and most poignant thing I've read all year. Only fools and madmen will pass up the chance to read it. Writing Home is a must.' Tatler

ALAN BENNETT has been a leading dramatist since Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s. His works for stage and screen include Talking Heads, Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, A Question of Attribution, The Madness of George III, an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, The History Boys, The Habit of Art, People, Hymn, Cocktail Sticks and Allelujah! His collections of prose are Writing Home, Untold Stories (PEN/Ackerley Prize, 2006) and Keeping On, Keeping On. Six Poets contains Bennett's selection of English verse, accompanied by his commentary. His fiction includes The Uncommon Reader and Smut: Two Unseemly Stories., Alan Bennett has been one of our leading dramatists since the success of Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s. His television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, revived for the BBC during the exceptional circumstances of the 2020 lockdown, including two new monologues, published as Two Besides.

His many works for the stage include Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van (together with the screenplay), A Question of Attribution, The Madness of George III (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George), and an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. At the National Theatre, London, The History Boys (also a screenplay) won numerous awards including Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best Play, an Olivier for Best New Play and the South Bank Award. On Broadway, The History Boys won five New York Drama Desk Awards, four Outer Critics' Circle Awards, a New York Drama Critics' Award, a New York Drama League Award and six Tonys. Also at the National, The Habit of Art, People, Hymn and Cocktail Sticks. Allelujah! premiered at the Bridge Theatre, London.

His collections of prose are Writing Home, Untold Stories (PEN/Ackerley Prize, 2006) and Keeping On Keeping On. Bennett's selection of English verse, accompanied by his commentary is published in Six Poets, Hardy to Larkin. His lockdown diaries, published as House Arrest, was a Sunday Times bestseller. Fiction includes The Uncommon Reader, Smut: Two Unseemly Stories and another Sunday Times bestseller, Killing Time., ALAN BENNETT has been a leading dramatist since Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s. His works for stage and screen include Talking Heads, Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, A Question of Attribution, The Madness of George III, an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, The History Boys, The Habit of Art, People, Hymn, Cocktail Sticks, Allelujah! and The Choral. His collections of prose are Writing Home, Untold Stories (PEN/Ackerley Prize, 2006), Keeping On Keeping On and Enough Said. Six Poets contains Bennett's selection of English verse, accompanied by his commentary. His fiction includes The Uncommon Reader and Smut: Two Unseemly Stories. Most recently, his pandemic diary, House Arrest, his short story Killing Time and Enough Said were all Sunday Times bestsellers.