Dennis Hamley
Dennis Hamley is the author of The Second Person from Porlock (2021).
Dennis grew up in Kent and Buckinghamshire. After completing his National Service in the RAF, he read English at Jesus College, Cambridge and then pursued postgraduate studies at Bristol, Manchester and Leicester, where he earned a PhD. After a career in education as a teacher, lecturer and adviser, he retired early in 1992 to write full time. His first young adult novel was published in 1974 and he has written over sixty books, both educational and for children. He has written five ‘crossover’ novels, Spirit of the Place, Out of the Mouths of Babes, Ellen’s People and Divided Loyalties, all now reissued by his imprint Joslin Books.
A short Q&A with Dennis Hamley can be read below:
How did you start writing?
In my third year of university we had a Wakefield Mystery Play as a set book. I was supply teaching during the vacation and there were no plays available so I decided to turn my university translation into an acting version. I loved writing this and the kids liked it. It became a published book called Three Towneley Plays in 1962. I spent ten years turning these plays into a novel, Pageants of Despair, published by Andre Deutsch, and thus my real writing career started.
What inspires your writing?
The need for clarity, a plain style which can be worked on creatively.
What’s a piece of advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Just keep writing!
Read our full interview with Dennis here.