Obituary: Geoff Fox
By Darren Chetty
Geoff Fox Born 20th April 1938 – 14th June 2026
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Dr Geoff Fox at the age of eighty-eight. Geoff was a long-time contributor to Books for Keeps. He wrote a number of articles and over 300 reviews for the magazine each demonstrating the careful, attentive approach to reading that he advocated in his writing and teaching. From 1970–2000 he taught at St Lukes, the School of Education at Exeter University. I was one of the many students whom he taught there.
Geoff’s contribution to children’s literature was immense. He was part of the founding editorial board of the journal Children’s Literature in Education and edited the journal from 1970 to 2008. The journal helped establish children’s literature as a serious academic field – one that combines literary theory and criticism with education and pedagogy. In so doing, it gave space for scholarly consideration of children as readers, and teachers as mediators, of literature shared in educational contexts.
Two books emerged out of the journal. In 1976 he edited Writers, Critics, and Children: Articles from Children’s Literature in Education (Agathon Press) which included contributions from Nina Bawden, Joan Aiken and Ted Hughes. In 1995 he edited Celebrating Children’s Literature in Education (Teachers College) a retrospective that included contributions from Phillippa Pearce, Margaret Meek, Aidan Chambers, Virginia Hamilton, Robert Leeson, Margaret Mackey, Robert Westall and many others.
Along with his editing and teaching roles Geoff found time to publish a number of books including Starting Points (1967), Teaching literature 9–14 co-authored with Mike Benton (1985), Children at War co-authored with Kate Agnew (2001) and Dear Mr Morpingo: Inside the World of Michael Morpurgo (2004).
After his National Service in the Royal Air Force he went to Oxford University before becoming a secondary teacher at Manchester Grammar, the school he had attended as a child. He spent some time teaching in the USA in the late 60s and spoke of how this was an important grounding in his educational philosophy; he retained a sense of optimism that things could be otherwise along with a keen analysis of the political forces that came to bear on classrooms. Writing in 1995, he noted that ‘[t]he most lunatic pronouncements on literature in England…have not come from the fringes, but from government. Prescribed, or even exemplary, lists of authors in the National Curriculum (mostly dead, mostly male, mostly beyond the reach of young readers, and almost all white) take no account of how readers read, and how children grow up to be readers.’
The breadth of Geoff’s interests can be seen in the title of his PhD dissertation: ‘Criticism, Pedagogy, Practice and Facilitation in Children’s Literature, Drama and Oral Storytelling.’ Geoff’s approach to literature, education and scholarship was always inclusive. The tributes in the final issue of the journal ‘An Editor takes his leave’ repeatedly refer to his encouraging, attentive editorial approach particularly with regards to emerging writers. But they also noted his rigour. He wouldn’t stand for lazy thinking – I know this as a former student. His feedback on my essays was almost conversational but always precise and insightful. In taking my ideas seriously, he communicated also that I should make sure to think seriously. He was the first person to show me that children’s literature was a subject worthy of close attention. We kept in touch via email, his messages were always warm, humorous and encouraging, little pieces of storytelling relaying incidents from the recent or distant past.
Through his writing, teaching, and editing Geoff impacted thousands of people in the UK and far beyond. The field of children’s literature owes much to his tireless work. His ability to transform the atmosphere in a classroom for the better had to be seen to be believed. He credited this to stories, writing that: ‘Nothing, in many teachers’ experience, welds a group of children or students into a good-humoured, learning community so effectively as the sharing of literature in all its forms.’
Dr Darren Chetty is a writer and a lecturer at UCL with research interests in education, philosophy, racism, children’s literature and hip-hop culture. He contributed to The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla, and has since published five books as co-author and co-editor. He is the co-author with Karen Sands-O’Connor of the Books for Keeps Beyond the Secret Garden columns.
Additional tributes:
I was lucky enough to be at the Roehampton Children’s Literature International Summer School in 2003 where Geoff Fox was speaking about war fiction for children and about pop-up books. The two subjects could not be more different, but this only demonstrated Geoff’s ability to take in the whole spectrum of children’s books. He did so with deep humanity, the same humanity I saw him express in every interaction he had with everyone from children to the most senior scholar. His work was important, but his compassion for people equally so.
Karen Sands O’Connor
Geoff left an international legacy, but for those of us who knew him as a friend as well as a colleague, his impact was deep and personal. Geoff was a correspondent of the old school whose cards and letters were always full of news and recollections and insights. He never went for group messages – each communication from Geoff was hand-written and quite clearly written for oneself. The absence of these missives will be felt. Please do take the time to read ‘An Editor Takes His Leave’. It does a better job than I can of detailing what Geoff did for all of us who study and value writing for children and young people.
Kimberley Reynolds, Emerita Professor, OBE
Geoff was a brilliant educator. I saw him at work with his students in Exeter. He was a very warm and kind person. At a stressed time in my life, he made things possible for me to have some great holidays with my children. You never forget things like that.
Michael Rosen
‘Geoff Fox had an instinct for paying true attention to other people. It made him an astute editor, and, by all accounts, a terrific teacher. It also made him a wonderful friend. I spent ten years as his co-editor on Children’s Literature in Education; working with him was an education in its own right, and an enormous privilege. I was very grateful that our friendship lasted beyond the years of our working partnership because you don’t get a lot of friends like Geoff in an ordinary lifespan. Generosity and kindness permeated his approach to the world, though he could also be astringent; he was never just an automatic cheerleader. He and Pam were famous for their Devon hospitality, and, like many other lucky people, I loved visiting Aller Down Cottage. Letters or emails from Geoff always made a day better. His legacy lives on in Children’s Literature in Education and in the many kinds of conversation that his work made possible, but we will all miss the man very much indeed.’
Margaret Mackey
Geoff was my university tutor, mentor and friend for 30 years. I credit Geoff for teaching me – as a 26-year-old mature undergraduate – to really read. He opened my eyes and instilled passion for previously unknown literature, poetry and ways of thinking about them, coming as I did from a diet restricted to the English O’ and A’-Level Boards of 1980s England.
The extent of Geoff’s gift as a scholar, university academic, author and editor, in the field of Children’s Literature and storytelling, is hard to distil into words; however, I think it is as a truly inspiring teacher and mentor that Geoff leaves the most powerful legacy. In a module entitled ‘The Power of Story’, I made some notes as he spoke: “As a teacher it is our responsibility to tell stories with power, and to use this medium to its greatest effect”. Geoff truly inhabited this call to practice in his personal and professional life. I will be forever grateful, as will so many lucky enough to have spent time in his company as friend, student or mentee.’
Clare Dowdall, University of Exeter
Collaborating with Geoff was a learning experience in itself. I valued his deep conviction of the value of literature in the development of young people’s minds, and his sense of the importance of narrative in making sense of the world – how we narrate the world to ourselves, make meaning, and shape experience.
His method when working with students was to create a point of focus that engaged their imaginations, and then to channel creative responses towards making connections, allowing new ways of seeing to develop. What mattered was engagement on the matter at hand, not on himself as teacher. Geoff was a very skilled at doing this and it was what made him inspirational.
When Geoff committed himself to a task, he never deviated from it. He saw things through, be it a drama project or a long-term commitment to journal editing. He was an enabler by instinct always working for the betterment of people, never losing sight of the purpose to provide the best possible preparation for student teachers during their course, and following through to their work with children in schools. The quality of learning was always the priority. Though his intellectual capacity was far greater than most colleagues around him, he deliberately chose not to become a career academic. He was, at heart, a teacher.
Geoff abhorred confrontation, preferring always to fix differences and collaborate. He had boundless generosity of spirit, and deep humanity. I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to work closely with him for so long.
Stephen Cockett (Geoff’s friend long-term collaborator at St Lukes, University of Exeter
