Alan Bennett

Garan Holcombe (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Tweet Report an Error

A few years ago Alan Bennett was scheduled to be interviewed by The Independent. However, when he saw himself described as “winsome” in an article in the same newspaper, he was so irked by the adjective that he sent a postcard, calling the interview off with the phrase: “winsome, lose some”. This story tells us a lot about Alan Bennett, regarded by many as the foremost playwright of his generation. There is the marvellous wit of course, but more significantly, there is an irritation with his public image; Bennett has long suffered from the poisoned chalice of being considered a “national treasure”.

Bennett cannot quite shake off the image of an avuncular old man of letters, somewhat out of step with the …

2687 words

Citation: Holcombe, Garan. "Alan Bennett". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 September 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5067, accessed 26 November 2024.]

5067 Alan Bennett 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.