New literary collection honours Salford’s greatest playwrights

A new Salford Literary Collection has been made available for Salford residents to view for free online.

The new collection spotlights the work of playwright Harold Brighouse (Hobson’s Choice), the prominent scriptwriter Arthur Hopcraft (The Nearly Man) and the novelist and playwright Walter Greenwood (Love on the Dole).

Alexandra Mitchell, Salford University Archivist, said: “We’re very excited to be able to bring to light key materials that illuminate the work of three writers, who each had distinguished careers in their fields.

“The new Salford Literary Archives will certainly be of interest to students, researchers and academics, not just here in Salford, but all over the world. And by making the new collection freely available these fascinating materials can also by enjoyed by the public.”

Harold Brighouse, born in Eccles in 1882, was an English playwright and author. His most successful and well-known play was Hobson’s Choice, a comedy about gender and social class, which premiered in New York in 1915. The collection includes a handwritten draft of Hobson’s Choice, alongside other manuscript works, correspondence and theatre programmes.

The Brighouse digital collection has been created in partnership with Salford Local History Library, who hold the physical Brighouse archive and was catalogued by Seher Khan Naz, an undergraduate student in SAMCT as part of the Widening Participation Summer Programme.

Arthur Hopcraft (1932-2004) is known as one of the great scriptwriters of his day. He is especially well known for his TV plays such as The Nearly Man and for his small screen adaptations such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Hard Times, and Bleak House.

The digital collection includes episode and book breakdowns of the two John le Carré novels adapted by Hopcraft for the small screen, A Perfect Spy and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Walter Greenwood (1903–1974), was a Salford born novelist and playwright. His best-known work, Love on the Dole (1933), was a story about urban poverty based on the Hanky Park area of Salford where he grew up.

The novel was an immediate success and over the next 40 years, Greenwood produced nine more novels, together with short stories, plays, film scripts, and occasional journalism.

The Salford Literary Collection can be accessed through The University of Salford’s Digital Archives.