Graham Joyce

Born: October 22, 1954; Died: September 9, 2014.

GRAHAM Joyce, who has died aged 59, was a creative writer of fantasy fiction who won many awards and commanded a large and popular readership, winning the British fantasy award on six occasions.

Part of his success was his desire to always break fresh literary territory - he delighted in being unusual and unpredictable. It was this ability to surprise that made him such a fascinating story teller. Joyce was also an inventive wordsmith who painted a picture of ordinary life which was easily recognisable by the reader.

Such qualities are outstandingly seen in The Tooth Fairy (1996) which was his most widely praised novel. It tells of how a lad accidentally sees the tooth fairy in the middle of the night after placing a tooth under his pillow. No one else can see the fairy but Joyce brilliantly concocts an enchanting tale that has a sinister and defining edge.

Graham William Joyce was born outside Coventry, his father was a coal miner and it was not an easy childhood. Joyce did not display any academic polish - he failed his 11-plus but continued his studies at Bishop Lonsdale College in Derby, where he qualified with a degree in education and teaching. His desire for improvement was further witnessed when he took a Master's at Leicester University in modern English and American literature. Later he wrote his PhD from Nottingham Trent University.

Initially, Joyce worked for the National Association of Youth Clubs as a development officer but in 1988 with his future wife he moved to Greece for a year and wrote his first novel, Dreamside. It basically deals with four psychology students and the uncompromising power of the subconscious. Its success allowed Joyce to concentrate on writing fiction.

There was an outstanding exception. In 2009 Joyce, a life-long football follower and a keen goalkeeper, wrote Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular which he cannily subtitled, A Riotous Footballing Memoir about the Loneliest Position on the Field. It was runner-up in the William Hill sports book of the year and one critic wrote: "Every goalkeeper's wife or girlfriend should read this book."

One particularly admired novel was The Year of the Ladybird set in the sweltering summer of 1976. A student works at a holiday camp and experiences racial and social tensions. Joyce returns to a theme he so often explored in his books with much insight - the emergence of a young man approaching maturity.

Joyce was a prolific author and his other titles included Not Strangers, In a Nutshell, The Facts of Life, Some Kind of Fairy Tale and, his final and poignant book, A Perfect Day And The Shocking Clarity Of Cancer.

Joyce had taught creative writing at Nottingham Trent University since 1996. With typical courage he returned this summer, during a remission period, to teach his fiction group. He was a much-respected teacher who inspired many writers with novel ideas and a sense of purpose.

Throughout his career he had demonstrated a strong concern for education and how it is administered. Earlier this year he organised a petition heavily criticising the then Education Secretary, Michael Gove. Always forthright in his opinions he described Gove as, "singlehandedly wreaking havoc on the morale and practice of school learning".

Only last month Joyce was heard on Radio 4 in Talking About Cancer, a programme designed to explain the language associated with the disease. Joyce brought an honesty and sincerity to the programme. He married Suzanne Johnsen while they were students at Leicester. She and their two children survive him.