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Bennett donates work to Oxford library

24/10/2008

Alan Bennett has decided to donate a vast array of his work to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.

Scripts and notes from his stage and TV plays are among the written work the author is said to have donated to the library.

Bennett, 74, has in one form or another kept hold of almost every piece of writing he has produced during his illustrious career and he freely admits he'll be glad to get rid of it.

"Since I don't have a computer, this does make for a fair amount of paperwork," he said.

"There's so much [that] I'm quite glad to see the back of it. I just pity the poor research student who may have to make sense of it all."

The playwright said he saw the donation as a way of paying back the education he received when he attended Exeter College at Oxford University.

The librarian at the library, Dr Sarah Thomas, thanked Bennett for his "extraordinary generosity", describing the donation as "one of the most important acquisitions for the library in recent times".