John C Q Roberts

After reading Russian at Merton College, Oxford, John C Q Roberts worked in Africa and Europe with Shell International for four years. He then spent a decade teaching foreign languages at Marlborough College. From there, in 1974, he was recruited to an official public post in Russo-British cultural relations. An account of his two decades as Director of the Great Britain-USSR Association and the Britain-Russia Centre was the subject of his book Speak Clearly into the Chandelier.

The author was awarded literary prizes in Russia following the appearance of his book there in translation.