About David Sutton
Cataloguer, indexer, archival and literary researcher; writer on archival sources for literary research and on copyright; also specialising in the study of the history of food and gastronomy, and the history of public protest and riots.
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Editorial work on the Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and Letters: highly commended, Besterman Medal 1988; nominated for the McColvin Medal, 1995.
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Awarded the Benson Medal for outstanding services to literature by the Royal Society of Literature, 2002.
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The Location Register and WATCH projects jointly accorded British Academy Research Project (ARP) status in 2004; ARP status renewed until 2027.
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Named as “Archivist of the Year” (awarded by the Scone Foundation, New York, 2006).
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Responsible for supporting the Reading research projects by external fund-raising (over one million pounds raised to date).
Speaker at functions organised by the Strachey Trust, the British Library, the British Academy and other funding bodies.
Former participant in the Histoire de l’Alimentation group, Université de Paris VIII-Vincennes; long-standing contributor to the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, and its former Treasurer.
Memberships, fellowships and networks
Senior Research Fellow, University of Reading.
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Executive Committee member, Group for Literary Archives and Manuscripts (GLAM). Chair of GLAM, 2010-2019 .
Member, Society of Authors.
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Member, Royal Society of Literature. Elected Fellow, FRSL 2012.
Member, UK Literary Heritage Working Group.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (elected FRSA 2007).
Former printer and publisher; founding member of the West Midlands Publishing Cooperative.
Chair/convenor: Reading Fairtrade Town Steering Group, 2009- .
Member: Labour Party (1968- ); National Trust; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Médecins Sans Frontières; Dignity in Dying; National Secular Society; Greenpeace; Reading International Solidarity Centre; and numerous other local and national organisations.
Other interests: political, international, charity work
Elected councillor, Reading Borough Council, 1988-2008.
Leader of the Council, 1995-2008; special responsibility for finances and the budget; delivered 13 budget speeches.
Chair of the Group of Berkshire Leaders, 1995-2006; Vice-Chair and Chair of the Association of Councils in the Thames Valley Region (ACTVaR) and Vice-Chair of the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU).
Special political interests: local government finance; internationalism; town twinning; anti-racism; urban regeneration; planning and waterways.
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Negotiated major public-private regeneration schemes in Reading, including Madejski Stadium; Oracle Centre; Southside; Reading sewage works.
Participant at the Urban Summit, Birmingham, 2002; invited speaker on urban regeneration at Expo 2005, Aichi, Japan, and at MIPIM 2006 and MIPIM 2007 (Marché international des professionnels de l’immobilier), Cannes; occasional lecturer in the University of Reading Geography Department on “urban sustainability”.
Trustee of the Earley Charity, 1988-. Vice-Chair of the Earley Charity and Chair of its Finance Committee.
Co-founder and present trustee of the Reading San Francisco Libre Trust.
Co-founder of the Reading Anti-Apartheid Campaign.
Chair of the Reading Miners Support Committee, 1984-1985.
Deputy Chair of the Berkshire Economic Strategy Board, 2008-2011.
Company director, Reading Transport Limited (Reading Buses), 2008-2021. Chair of the Board for twelve years, 2010-2021 .
