John Fraser (born 1939) is an English professor, novelist, and poet.

Academic career

He was born in London and educated at St Paul's School, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, King's College, London and the University of Leicester.[1] He taught History in 1961–66 at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts & Technology, Cambridge, then Political Science at the University of Leicester (1967–68). From 1968 to 1971 he was assistant professor, then Acting Chairman, Department of Political Science, Laurentian University, Ontario, Canada. From 1971 to 1984 he was assistant professor, then Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Between 1978 and 2001 he had several contract professorships at the University of Rome and University of Ferrara; and from 1986 to 2003 he was Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading.[2]

Fraser's academic publications include works in both Italian and English, such as An Introduction to the Thought of Galvano della Volpe, Lawrence & Wishart, London, 1977 (transl. into Italian as: Il Pensiero di Galvano della Volpe, Liguori, Napoli, 1979),[3] and Italy: Society in Crisis / Society in Transformation (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1981). Fraser's literary work (novels, novellas, short stories and poetry) includes Black Masks (short stories and poetry), The Magnificent Wurlitzer, Medusa, The Observatory, The Other Shore, The Red Tank, Runners, Blue Light, Hard Places, An Illusion of Sun, Soft Landing, Military Roads, The Storm, Wayfaring, The Case, Enterprising Women, Down from the Stars and Animal Tales.[4] His work on Galvano della Volpe has been considered expert testimony in studies of Volpe's life.[5] He has also been considered to be an authority on Marxism.[6]

Reception of fiction writing

As a fiction writer, Fraser has a unique free-flowing signature style. The Fellow Emeritus at Magdalen College, Oxford John Fuller comments:

A serious novelist from the beginning. I have always been tremendously impressed by both the conceptual depth and the fey fantasy of all that he does – not to mention the politics […] In Fraser’s fiction the reader rides as on a switchback or luge of impetuous attention, with effects flashing by at virtuoso speeds. The characters seem to be unwitting agents of chaos, however much wise reflection Fraser bestows upon them; they move with shrugging self-assurance through circumstances as richly detailed and as without reliable compass-points as a Chinese scroll.[1]

Bibliography of original works

Poetry

Fiction

Political theory

Translations

References

  1. ^ a b John Fuller. "John Fuller on The Novels of John Fraser". Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  2. ^ "The University of Reading: Department of Politics and International Relations: Visiting Research Fellows: Dr John Fraser". University of Reading. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  3. ^ "John Fraser". AESOP Modern. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  4. ^ Maurizio Ferrera (November 2008). "Book Review". Journal of Public Policy. p. 184.
  5. ^ Irene Rima Makaryk (1993). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms. University of Toronto Press. p. 293. ISBN 9780802068606.
  6. ^ Renate Holube (2001). "Post-war Italian intellectual culture: from Marxism to cultural studies" in The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: Volume 9, Twentieth-Century Historical, Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780521300148.

External links

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