An aerial view of Singleton Campus and the bay opposite
Professor David Britton

Professor David Britton

Professor, English Literature

Telephone number

+44 (0) 1792 602564

Welsh language proficiency

Basic Welsh Speaker
Available For Postgraduate Supervision

About

Playwright D.J.Britton is Head of English and Creative Writing and Professor of Dramaturgy at Swansea University. He moved to Wales from Australia, where his stage plays won major awards including Plainsong (Equity Production of the Year) and Cargo (Swan Gold Award). His latest theatre work Kamil and Francis (Richard Burton Theatre Cardiff; 2019) was acclaimed by Theatre Wales as "dynamic and absorbing. Every truth runs parallel with the political ethnic and religious divisions that beset us today...(To) have served up these ’delights’ so deliciously tells us that there still may be some hope left."

His current project is a five-part BBC drama about the composer William Byrd, starring David Suchet (due to go to air in Spring 2021).

D.J.Britton’s writing has been widely acclaimed. His version of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (Sherman Cymru) gained a four star review in The Guardian and other successful recent stage works include the bi-lingual Windsongs of the Blessed Bay; The Wizard the Goat and the Man Who Won the War; Pembroke Arcadia; Old Peter’s Russian Tales, and Silverglass.

Areas Of Expertise

  • Original stage drama and adaptations
  • Radio/audio drama
  • Drama from current events
  • Pedagogy of Creative Writing teaching
  • Drama from historical sources
  • Theatre history
  • Australian Theatre
  • Welsh Theatre

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

A deeply experienced teacher and mentor, Professor Britton specialises in helping emerging writers to find and develop their own unique voice. As well as university teaching at all levels from Year One BA to his PhD group, he has run workshops throughout the world, from the Welsh National Writers’ Centre at Ty Newydd Wales, to the Singapore’s Writers’ Laboratory. He teaches and mentors writing skills across all genres, this has included collaborations with people of many backgrounds. For example, he has worked in the Pacific Islands of Kiribati with the Micronesian theatre group Te Itibwerere, developing new works relevant to Island culture, and with the renowned Black Swan Theatre in Australia.

Professor Britton has taught in universities in Singapore, China and Australia and currently supervises PhD students in the US and Asia, as well as UK-based researchers.

Research Award Highlights Collaborations