Hines, Melvin Barry, 1939 - 2016
Dates
- Existence: 30 June 1939 - 18 March 2016
Biography
Author and scriptwriter Barry Hines was born in the mining village of Hoyland Common near Barnsley on 30th June 1939, and attended Ecclesfield Grammar School. One of his proudest moments was playing for the England Secondary Schools football team in 1957. He worked for the National Coal Board as an apprentice mining engineer, but returned to education, eventually gaining a teaching qualification at Loughborough University. He worked as a Physical Education teacher for several years, first in London and then in Hoyland Common, eventually leaving to become a full-time writer.
His best known work is the novel A Kestrel for a Knave, which was made into the film Kes, directed by Ken Loach. It is the story of Billy Casper, a young boy from a mining village who cared for a kestrel. Other notable works include the film Looks and Smiles, also directed by Ken Loach, which won the Best Contemporary Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1981, and the television film Threads, about Sheffield during and after a nuclear war, which won a special award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in 1985 as well as the Broadcasting Press Guild Award and seven BAFTA nominations.
Barry Hines was Yorkshire Arts Fellow in Creative Writing in the University of Sheffield from 1972 to 1974, and became an Honorary Doctor of Letters in 2010.
He died in March 2016.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Hines Papers
This collection comprises the papers of the author and screenwriter Barry Hines, and includes television, film and play scripts, programmes, reviews and cuttings, photographs, posters, drafts and proofs. There is also a collection of published books, both Barry Hines’ own works and material collected for research purposes.
For further details of this collection please see the finding aids in the External Documents section below.