John Mullan
- Additional Crew
John Mullan is a Professor of English at University College, London. He
specializes in 18th century fiction in general and the novels of Daniel
Defoe in particular. He has edited 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Moll
Flanders' for Everyman. In addition to his academic work he writes a
weekly column on contemporary fiction for 'The Guardian' newspaper.
This column was used as the basis for his book 'How Novels work', which
was first published by Oxford University Press in 2006. In this book
Professor Mullan examined in detail the novel writer's craft through an
analysis of the various techniques used by novelists in their work. He
drew on examples from both the classics of English literature such as
Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'Emma' by Jane Austen, as well as
contemporary novels like Margaret Atwood's 'The Blind Assassin' and
'Atonement' by Ian McEwan. In 2007 Faber and Faber published his book
'Anonymity', a study of the various authors in the history of English
literature who chose to publish their books anonymously. On 11th
February 2009 the digital channel BBC4 broadcast his documentary film,
'How Reading Made us Modern', in which he examined the dramatic
increase in reading which took place in the 18th century, and how
reading went from being the preserve of the rich to the national
pastime it is today.