Martin Goff - Revision history

LGBT-HP: Fix bare tag: MW 1.45.1 Cite requires self-closing

2026-07-10T13:09:05Z

Fix bare <references> tag: MW 1.45.1 Cite requires self-closing <references/>

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	==References==		==References==
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	[[Category:1923 births]]		[[Category:1923 births]]
	[[Category:Novelists]]		[[Category:Novelists]]
	[[category:2015 deaths]]		[[category:2015 deaths]]

Wessexman: more detail

2023-12-31T15:49:47Z

more detail

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	'''Martin Goff''', born in 1923, the son of a Russian fur dealer who had emigrated to London and established himself with great success. As a youth, Goff read prodigiously, and at 19 he was offered a place at Oxford to read English, but he joined the RAF and served in the Second World War instead. After the war, at age 22, Goff decided to become a bookseller: in 1946, he opened his first shop and before long opened others.		'''Martin Goff''', born in 1923, the son of a Russian fur dealer who had emigrated to London and established himself with great success. As a youth, Goff read prodigiously, and at 19 he was offered a place at Oxford to read English, but he joined the RAF and served in the Second World War instead. After the war, at age 22, Goff decided to become a bookseller: in 1946, he opened his first shop and before long opened others.

			In 1948 he took a lease on a shop in [[St Leonard’s-on-Sea]], East Sussex, where he horrified the local community by clearly labelling one section of books “Sex”. Moving to Surrey in 1950, he bought an established bookshop, the Ibis, in [[Banstead]]. He believed that imaginative window displays brought in customers, as did personal service. Goff’s fame spread beyond Surrey <ref> From obituary in The Guardian (link in Reference no 3) </ref>.

	Goff published his first novel, The Plaster Fabric, in 1957, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Britain and authors who wrote openly about it could find themselves prosecuted. However, the book earned a rave review from the popular poet and critic John Betjeman.		Goff published his first novel, The Plaster Fabric, in 1957, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Britain and authors who wrote openly about it could find themselves prosecuted. However, the book earned a rave review from the popular poet and critic John Betjeman.

Wessexman: died 2015

2023-12-31T15:47:09Z

died 2015

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	Goff is credited by many as one of the most significant figures in modern British fiction for his involvement with the Booker Prize, which he helped to create and oversaw for its first 36 years <ref> from :https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1015144.Martyn_Goff (accessed 31 December 2023) </ref>.		Goff is credited by many as one of the most significant figures in modern British fiction for his involvement with the Booker Prize, which he helped to create and oversaw for its first 36 years <ref> from :https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1015144.Martyn_Goff (accessed 31 December 2023) </ref>.

			Goff died in 2015.<ref> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/26/martyn-goff (accessed 31 December 2023 </ref>.

	==References==		==References==
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	[[Category:1923 births]]		[[Category:1923 births]]
	[[Category:Novelists]]		[[Category:Novelists]]
			[[category:2015 deaths]]

Wessexman: new article

2023-12-31T15:44:48Z

new article

New page

'''Martin Goff''', born in 1923, the son of a Russian fur dealer who had emigrated to London and established himself with great success. As a youth, Goff read prodigiously, and at 19 he was offered a place at Oxford to read English, but he joined the RAF and served in the Second World War instead. After the war, at age 22, Goff decided to become a bookseller: in 1946, he opened his first shop and before long opened others.

Goff published his first novel, The Plaster Fabric, in 1957, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Britain and authors who wrote openly about it could find themselves prosecuted. However, the book earned a rave review from the popular poet and critic John Betjeman.

He went on to publish several other novels; three of these--The Youngest Director (1961), Indecent Assault (1967) and Tar and Cement (1988)—dealt with gay themes. He has also published a number of non-fiction works, including books on collecting vinyl records.

Goff is credited by many as one of the most significant figures in modern British fiction for his involvement with the Booker Prize, which he helped to create and oversaw for its first 36 years <ref> from :https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1015144.Martyn_Goff (accessed 31 December 2023) </ref>.

==References==
<references>

[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:Novelists]]