Keith Brindle Writer
About the Author
A working life still in progress…
After university, I spent time as a kitchen porter, a postman and as a labourer in an engineering works. At one stage I was probably the oldest and most highly qualified paper boy in Wakefield. After being employed by the BBC, doing youth work and spending fifteen years as head of English in a high school, I became an education consultant. I was principal examiner for various English Language exams, as well as a senior coursework moderator and senior speaking and listening adviser, and was involved in teacher training. I toured England for many years doing a kind of stand-up routine, explaining to 16-year-olds how to be successful in English exams. Eventually, I became very, very tired and decided to focus just on writing.
I’ve had articles published in the Independent on Sunday and the TES and was at one time a regular contributor to the Bolton Evening News, and I’ve written for amateur theatre. My poems have been included in anthologies and I perform at live poetry events. In addition, I’ve written or part-written and edited 64 school text books and revision books.
I now recommend semi-retirement to everyone, so long as illnesses, the debt collectors and the man who makes the coffins can be kept at bay. I love to travel (and Serifos is my second home), though simply living in the north of England is a pleasure.
Following 'Circles on the Sand' and 'How Was It For You, Mr Pilgrim?' I'm now prioritising the next novel, about the tangled relationships of a group of troubled individuals on the Greek island of Hydra. If I can manage to write just another twelve novels after that, I’ll have caught up with Dickens.