Nick Bradley (KS 1991-2000) is a published author, and a Professor of Creative Writing on the master's degree at the Univeristy of Cambridge. His first two novels are set in Japan where he lived for a decade.

Nick Bradley returned to Kingswood this week to give a talk to current students about the path which led him to being an author, which includes ten years spent in Japan, and roles like a translator for Nintendo, and a teacher on the JET program. 

His first talk was given to over a hundred students in Year 10 and 11, who thoroughly enjoyed the talk and were very eager afterwards to ask Nick many questions about the various jobs and his life in Japan. The students found the talk highly inspiring, and were particularly interested in the range of paths Nick had experienced in his life, which differed entirely from his STEM A-Levels at Kingswood. All of the books available at the event were quickly snatched up by the students and they were able to have their copies signed by the author.  

In the afternoon, Nick ran a workshop for eleven of our creative writing students in the Sixth Form. He gave them a very insightful talk and ran a few practical workshops, and the students had the opportunity to ask Nick about the ins and outs of being a published author, and the influences on his own work. All the students left the talk having learnt a valuable lesson about the importance of characterisation to a story, and Nick delivered this in an engaging, entertaining manner. 

Nick and his wife then enjoyed a tour of the grounds, where Nick was able to see some of his old classrooms, and experienced a blast from the past when meeting his old tutor Garrod Musto on site.

Thank you Nick for coming back!

Nick's two books; the first (The Cat and the City) was critically acclaimed by The Times and the Guardian and was selected as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in 2020. So far, the book has been translated into 13 languages.

The second (Four Seasons in Japan) was published with Penguin Random House in June 2023.