Professor Francis Spufford

Biography

Francis Spufford is Professor of Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. After taking an English degree at Trinity Hall in 1985, he became a publisher’s reader and then full-time writer, first of non-fiction and then, since 2016, of novels.  His non-fiction books include the memoir The Child That Books Built and a recreation of the Soviet planned economy, Red Plenty. His first novel, Golden Hill, was set in 18th century New York and won four literary prizes.  His most recent, Light Perpetual, was long listed for the 2021 Booker Prize.  He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society.