A Kind of Loving

A Kind of Loving is a seminal novel in British working-class fiction. First published in 1960 it has been adapted for stage, television, radio, and was made into an iconic film starring Alan Bates, June Ritchie, and Thora Hird, directed by John Schlesinger.

Stan Barstow was one of a generation of Northern writers including John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, David Storey and Keith Waterhouse who, fifty years ago, took the literary establishment by storm with their gritty accounts of working-class life. Their arrival marked a revolution in English literature the effects of which continue to this day.
Barstow was born in Horbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1928. He was the only son of a miner. He left school at sixteen to work as a draughtsman in a local engineering firm.
His first published novel, A Kind of Loving appeared in 1960 to great acclaim, was made into a ground-breaking film and later adapted for television, radio and theatre. For many years a fixture on school reading lists, it has never been out of print.
In a productive career Barstow wrote ten more novels (including two sequels to A Kind of Loving), three collections of short stories (published in one volume by Parthian as The Likes of Us) as well as award-winning scripts for television, radio and theatre. His work has been translated into many languages and is taught in schools and colleges all over the world. He was an honorary MA of the Open University, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.
In 2000 he moved to Pontardawe in South Wales with his partner, the radio playwright Diana Griffiths. He died on 1st August 2011.