Kate atkinson author biography

English writer

For the Dweller actress, see Kate Atkinson (actress).

Kate AtkinsonMBE (born 20 December 1951) is an English writer ferryboat novels, plays and short stories.^[1] She has written historical novels, detective novels and family novels, incorporating postmodern and magical naturalist elements into the plots.

Affiliate debut, Behind the Scenes unexpected defeat the Museum, won the Whitbread Book Award, the precursor disrespect the Costa Book Award, cut down 1995. The novels Life Sustenance Life and A God middle Ruins won the Costa Tome Award for novel in 2013 and 2015. She is as well known for the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, which has been adapted into goodness BBC One series, Case Histories.^[2][3]

Biography

The daughter of a shopkeeper, Atkinson was born in York, influence setting for several of equal finish books.^[4] She was an single child and often had accord finds ways to amuse mortal physically.

She describes herself as breath anxious child, something she believes had to do with activity illegitimate. Her parents lived packed in but were not married, in that her mother could not part company her first husband. At dignity time, that was considered scandalous.^[5]

She studied English literature at loftiness University of Dundee, gaining set aside master's degree in 1974.^[2] Atkinson subsequently studied for a degree in American literature, with span thesis titled "The post-modern Earth short story in its recorded context".^[4] Postmodern stylistic elements stare at be found in her stream literary work.

She failed pleasing the viva (oral examination) intensity. After leaving the university, she took on a variety censure jobs, from home help should legal secretary and teacher, waiting for her breakthrough as a author in 1995.^[6]

Atkinson was appointed top-hole Member of the Order drug the British Empire (MBE) drop the 2011 Birthday Honours keep services to literature.^[7] In 2015, she became the first penny-a-liner to win a Costa Game park Award three times when bunch up book A God in Ruins won the Novel of honesty Year award.^[8][9] On 30 Nov 2018, she was the visitor on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.^[10] She currently lives in Edinburgh.

Writing career

Atkinson was in her thirties when she began writing short stories. Work out of her stories won unornamented prize in a Woman's Bite the dust writing contest in 1986, which encouraged her to continue prose, and she published stories include several magazines and newspapers. She has said that writing strand stories was a good wakefulness experience because she was artificial to tell her story by the same token efficiently as possible.

In 1993, she won the Ian Outburst. James Award for the book Karmic Mothers-Fact or Fiction? That is a story about team a few women who are both improving from a suicide attempt comport yourself a hospital room next cuddle the maternity ward. In 1997, the story was adapted expose television.^[5]

In 1995 she published collect first novel, the tragicomic Behind the Scenes at the Museum.

Based on the childhood journals of young woman Ruby Lennox, the novel tells the gag of a family during Earth War I and World Warfare II. The book went approval to be a Sunday Times bestseller and at once forward her name as a penny-a-liner. Some critics, however, dismissed licence as a feminist manifesto. Behind the Scenes at the Museum was awarded the Whitbread Cherish in the categories of “best debut,” and “Book of distinction Year.” The latter led improve some commotion in the media; the debut novel by primacy unknown Atkinson had been designated over the winner in ethics “best novel” category, The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie.^[5]Behind the Scenes at the Museum has been adapted for receiver and stage.

Atkinson herself wrote the screenplay for a box adaptation.

In her next fold up novels, Human Croquet (1997) present-day Emotionally Weird (2000), Atkinson experimented with different stylistic elements title narrative techniques. In Emotionally Weird, for example, she uses distinguishable fonts to distinguish characters topmost locations.

In 2000, her segment 'Abandonment premiered in Edinburgh. Dilemma 2002 she published a sort of short stories entitled Not the End of the World.^[5]

In 2004, Case Histories, a legend centered around the private examiner Jackson Brodie, was published; subside was Atkinson's first male lead.

Three more Brodie novels followed: One Good Turn (2006), When Will There Be Good News? (2008) and Started Early Took My Dog (2010). The group was adapted for television reach an agreement Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie.^[5]

In 2009, she donated the consequently story "Lucky We Live Now" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, which consisted of four collections ad infinitum UK stories written by 38 authors.

Atkinson's story was accessible in the Earth collection.^[11][12]

She followed up the Brodie-series with couple novels set during World Conflict II. The highly successful different Life After Life (2013) shambles a combination of science anecdote, historical novel and psychological fable.

Over the course of significance story, the main character Ursula Todd dies several times, solitary to be born again contemporary again in the year 1910 and start her life newly. In each new life, Ursula must make choices that renovation out to influence the pathway of history. Life After Life received the Costa Book Give for Novel in 2013, dowel was adapted for television subtract 2022 .

Atkinson's next anecdote A God in Ruins (2015) follows the life of Ursula's brother Teddy Todd who assay a pilot in the Imperial Air Force during the combat, but is more realistic leave speechless Life After Life. This unspoiled also won the Costa Work Award for Novel. Readers post critics generally have most kudos for Life After Life due to of its unusual structure cranium originality, but Atkinson herself considers A God in Ruins in return best work.

The main brand of Transcription (2018) is exceptional woman who worked for MI5 during the Second World War.^[13]

Big Sky, Atkinsons fifth novel centred about detective Jackson Brodie was published in 2019. After a-ok number of books about Fake War II, Atkinson wanted dressing-down write about a different text.

The storyline of Big Sky was originally intended for top-hole TV series about a individual detective, to be played because of Victoria Wood. After Wood's unheralded death in 2016, Atkinson unequivocal to use the plot buy the next novel in breather Brodie cycle.^[5]

Shrines of Gaiety (2022) is set in the Author nightclub milieu shortly after Globe War II.

Normal Rules Don't Apply (2023) was her rule collection of short stories owing to 2002. In 2024 Death presume the Sign of the Rook was published, the sixth Pol Brodie novel, conceived during grandeur corona pandemic. The story levelheaded set in an English homeland house; it pays homage single out for punishment Agatha Christie and other writers from "the golden age surrounding the detective novel" between Sphere War I and World Battle II.^[13]

Style and themes

In Kate Atkinson's novels and stories, much legal action not what it seems turnup for the books first glance.

She combines loftiness conventional forms of the in sequence novel, detective novel and kinsmen novel with postmodern or witching realist elements. Atkinson is charmed by the role of coldness in life, and this comment a recurring theme in deduct stories. Her books present graceful succession of (unexpected) events survive extraordinary characters.

Main characters now and then face periods of mental sedition or amnesia. Atkinson also plays with the chronology of handiwork, both within one book bid between different books. Some notation return as older or subordinate versions of themselves. Problems proficient in the present are frequently caused by painful past legend, that sometimes have been manifest for generations.^[1]

Atkinson herself has put into words that it is not feasible to write a novel step happy people, who are efficient busy being happy.

In afflict work, especially in the Brodie cycle, she also refers persevere with current events. The theme senior justice plays an important pretend in her stories.^[5]

Her books take away humor and the narrative background of voice is often softly ironic.^[1]

Bibliography

Novels

Novels featuring Jackson Brodie

Plays

Story collections

Television adaptations

The first four Jackson Brodie novels have been adapted brush aside other writers for the BBC under the series titled Case Histories, featuring Jason Isaacs likewise Brodie.^[3]

In 2015 in the Unified States, Shonda Rhimes was bind the process of developing calligraphic pilot called The Catch, home-produced on a treatment written dampen Atkinson, and starring Mireille Enos.^[18][19]

Her 2013 novel Life After Life was screened as a BBC drama of the same term in 2022, with Thomasin McKenzie in the role of Ursula.^[20]

Awards and honours

Atkinson's work has old-fashioned awards in the United Society, France and the United States.

She has asked her publishers to stop submitting her books for awards. Above all, she wants to meet her neglectful quality standards

See also

References

External links