David Nokes FRSL (11 March 1948 – 19 November 2009) was a scholar of 18th-century English literature known for his biographies of Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Jane Austen, and Samuel Johnson. He also penned screenplays, including a BBC adaptation of Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa (1991) and an adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996). He was also a leading reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books.
Nokes attended King's College School, Wimbledon, London. He received an MA from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1974. He started teaching at King's College London in 1973, was elevated to reader in 1986, and was promoted to Professor of English Literature in 1998.
In 1994, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Books
- Jonathan Swift: A Hypocrite Reversed (1985)
- John Gay: A Profession of Friendship (1995)
- Jane Austen: A Life (1997)
- The Nightingale Papers (2001)
- Samuel Johnson: A Life (2009)
References
- Brant, Clare (7 December 2009). "David Nokes obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Professor David Nokes: writer and scholar of the 18th century". The Sunday Times. 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- "Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- 1948 births
- 2009 deaths
- People educated at King's College School, London
- Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
- Academics of King's College London
- British literary historians
- English biographers
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients
- 20th-century British biographers