Born in Manchester, England in 1942, novelist and broadcaster Howard Jacobson was educated at Cambridge University. He lectured at the University of Sydney for three years before returning to England where he taught English at Selwyn College.  During the 1970s he taught English at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in the West Midlands, an experience which provided the material for his first novel.  An 'Arena' television documentary on Howard Jacobson, entitled 'My Son the Novelist', was broadcast on BBC2 in 1985, and an edition of the 'South Bank Show', broadcast by ITV in 1999, concentrated on The Mighty Walzer (1999). He has also made two television programmes, 'Howard Jacobson Takes on the Turner', broadcast by Channel 4 in 2000, and a 'South Bank Show' special entitled 'Why the Novel Matters' broadcast in 2002.