)
)
Lee Child is a highly acclaimed and award-winning author who has written over 24 Jack Reacher novels and numerous short stories. He is a global bestseller and a former Booker Prize judge.
The Lee Child Archive at UEA
UEA holds Child's archive, which includes early drafts, manuscripts and correspondence about the creation of Jack Reacher, one of English literature's most enduring characters.
You can read about the announcement on Lee Child's Archive in The Observer, The Bookseller and the Eastern Daily Press.
The archive was opened to the public in March 2022.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the archive?
The paper archive consists of 26 linear metres of physical material within 157 boxes. It includes notebooks, correspondence, drafts, typescripts and working papers associated with the entire spectrum of Child’s writing career. To read more about the collection, visit the archive catalogue.
Child's authorised biographer, Heather Martin, enjoyed privileged access to the archive during the writing of her biography The Reacher Guy, which was published in October 2020. Both Martin and Child appeared together at UEA to discuss the book and the recording is available to view on request.
Creative Writing students at UEA enjoy access to the draft manuscripts and correspondence as part of their studies. Material from the collection has also been exhibited at NOIRWICH: the international crime writing festival and at the Lee Child Symposium held on 31 March 2022. The exhibition revealed how Child set about writing his debut novel, Killing Floor, and its initial reception by fans and the publishing world.
What can we look forward to discovering in the archive?
It includes early drafts, manuscripts and correspondence. Child's archive provides fascinating insights into the initial creation of one of English literature’s most enduring and uncompromising characters, and the structure and development of a long running and highly successful thriller series.
)
Writers A-Z
Lee Child Symposium
In March 2022, we hosted two landmark events to explore Child's legacy and the evolution of the crime thriller.
We celebrated the deposit of Lee Child's Archive at the UEA, and the 25th anniversary of the first Jack Reacher novel being published.
Our symposium celebrated the official opening of the archive of Child’s papers held at UEA. It also marked the 25th anniversary of the publication of Killing Floor (1997), which introduced the inimitable Jack Reacher, whose fight for justice, on behalf of the vulnerable and oppressed, has become a series hallmark.
Lee Child was also joined in conversation with novelist, biographer and critic Margaret Drabble and fiction and non-fiction writer and tutor Richard Beard, in a very rare public event. They discussed literary legacies, and what it means for your work to be popular, widely read and durable.