Wain Collection – Collections – Special Collections

A collection of published and unpublished works by John Wain (1925-1994), searchable via the catalogue.

John Wain (1925-1994) was an English novelist, poet and critic. His novels include Hurry on down, The Contenders and Young Shoulders. He was a lecturer in English at the University of Reading from 1947 to 1955.

This comprehensive collection includes not only published books but also articles, reviews, poems and interviews published in journals and newspapers, as well as articles written about Wain and translations of his work.

In addition, there is a small amount of archive material, (Reference: MS 2739) with unpublished material, consisting chiefly of broadcast scripts and transcripts, with a few items of correspondence. A description of this collection can be seen on the catalogue

Much of the collection was donated to the University Library by John Wain himself.