Introduction Biography Addresses Portraits
Books Short stories Stage plays Film and TV Radio and audio
Quotations Fishing Poetry Food Settings Dedications Narrative style Canning in the OED Reading lists Articles on Canning
Centenary News Links

The Victor Canning pages

Mr Finchley comes back to life in three splendid new editions from Farrago:

   

And so does "Smiler", Samuel Miles, the brave teenager
on the run from the police and determined to stay free
until he can clear his name of the false charge against him:

   

All are also available as audiobooks



Canning in 1938 with his dogs Polycarp and Abigail

These pages celebrate the work of Victor Canning (1911 - 1986), a writer of sixty-one books altogether, including one travel book, eighteen novels both comic and serious, four historical novels set in Roman and Arthurian Britain, three children's books, two short story collections (plus an abundance of other stories) and thirty-three thrillers, the best of which are some of the finest ever written in this genre.

Under Life is an introduction for new readers, a short biography, a list of the places where he lived, and a set of portraits.

Under Works you will find a full bibliography including his work for stage, film, TV and radio, with prefaces to all of the books and summaries of all the surviving short stories.

Under Background you will find a collection of brief quotations from Canning's books on a range of subjects, extracts about what became for him a major hobby, fishing, citations from and references to major poets (he was fond of poetry), descriptions of food and cooking (in case you want to assemble a Canning celebration dinner), and a list of the settings of the novels and stories. I have also created a page about citations from Canning's books in the Oxford English Dictionary, lists of the books he enjoyed himself and recommended to his sister, and a list of articles about Victor Canning, mostly from newspapers..

Click News, links and publications to see items on the deaths of Richard Griffiths, Dinah Sheridan and Kate O'Mara, all of whom had strong associations with Canning adaptations, along with explorations of the background to the books, and how we marked Canning's centenary in June 2011.

Click on this link to find the Victor Canning page at Curtis Brown, the agency who look after the rights to his work.


As well as the Mr. Finchley and Smiler titles,
Farrago have also re-issued several more early Canning books and short story collections,
all available as printed books, ebooks and audiobooks:

Polycarp
The Improvised Life
of Polycarp Jarvis
(Polycarp's Progress)
Fly Away Paul
Fly Away Paul
Silverman
The Uncertain Future
of the Silvermans
(Matthew Silverman)
Fountain Inn
Fountain Inn
Minerva Club
The Minerva Club
short stories
Short stories
The Aberdyll Onion
and other mysteries
Young Man on a Bicycle
Young Man on a Bicycle
and The Goldini Bath
Everyman's England
Everyman's England


Four Companions providing background material
and indexes of characters, locations and themes are available.
Click on these links to order direct from Lulu.com.  

Mr Finchley companion
A Mr. Finchley Companion

Rex Carver companion
A Rex Carver Comapnion
Smiler companion
A 'Smiler' Companion
Birdcage companion
A Birdcage Companion

Five more volumes contain material celebrating Canning's talents as a dramatist.
Click on these links to order direct from Lulu.com.  

Beggars Bush
Beggars' Bush
Canning's 1940 play
produced in Harrogate
starring Trevor Howard
Stage plays
Two stage plays
discovered in Canning's
posthumous papers
Radio plays
Four radio plays
from Canning's last years
Television
A survey of Canning's TV ouput
and two scripts
which were never broadcast
Movies
A survey of the nine films
made from Canning's books
along with two script adaptations
which were never filmed

and sources for a Victor Canning calendar


Site created by John Higgins, in June 2000, last updated 19 November, 2022.