Jason Webster (author)

Infobox Writer
name = Jason Webster


imagesize = 200px
caption = Jason Webster on his mountain farm
pseudonym =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1970|07|26|mf=y
birthplace = San Francisco
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Writer
nationality =
period =
genre =
subject = Travel
movement =
spouse = Salud Botella
partner =
children = 1
relatives =
influences = Travel writers Norman Lewis, Bruce Chatwin.
website = http://www.jasonwebster.net

Jason Webster is an Anglo-American author the main focus of whose work is devoted to Spain. He was born in California in 1970.

Education

Webster was educated in England, Egypt and Italy. In 1993 he graduated from Oxford University (St John's College) with a degree in Arabic and Islamic History.

Career

His best-selling first book, "Duende – A Journey in Search of Flamenco", which told the story of his quest to learn flamenco guitar, was long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award and has been translated into twelve different languages. It was selected to be read on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week. [cite web
last =
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title = Duende - A Journey in Search of Flamenco. First broadcast from 20030210 to 20030214. By Jason Webster. Read by Tom Goodman-Hill
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publisher = Radiolistings.co.uk
date =
url = http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/duende___a_journey_in_search_of_flamenco.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-09-23]
The Guardian described "Duende" as "a great book" and Webster as "an exceptional writer". [cite web
last = France
first = Miranda
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Let the spirit move you
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publisher = "The Guardian"
date = December 2002
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/dec/28/featuresreviews.guardianreview13
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-09-24] The factual accuracy of the book was questioned by a 2004 article in "The Independent" citing allegations that it did not recount the experiences of its author, but those of a guitar tutor in Oxford with whom Webster was said to have begun his Flamenco studies in 1998.cite web
last = Barnes
first = Anthony
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coauthors =
title = Acclaimed travel book is paella in the sky, claims flamenco tutor
work =
publisher = "The Independent"
date = 6 June 2004
url = http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/acclaimed-travel-book-is-paella-in-the-sky-claims-flamenco-tutor-731265.html
format =
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accessdate = 2008-09-30] Webster strongly denied the allegations, describing the book as "essentially true".

Webster's second book, "Andalus – Unlocking the Secrets of Moorish Spain", examined the deep impact left on Spain – and by extension the rest of Europe – by the Moorish presence and was adapted as a radio play by the BBC. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/dramaon3/pip/xkqh7/]

His most recent book, "¡Guerra! Living in the Shadows of the Spanish Civil War", looks at the wounds left by the civil war on contemporary Spain. The Times described it as reading like "a political thriller", concluding that Webster "writes staggeringly well". [cite web
last =
first =
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title = The Times review
work =
publisher = "The Times"
date = July 2007
url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2064533.ece
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-09-24]

Apart from his books, Webster has also written for the British newspapers The Guardian, The Observer, and The Daily Mail and reviews regularly for the New Statesman and Sunday Telegraph.

He has appeared in several British TV documentaries, including 'The Islamic History of Europe', presented by Rageh Omaar on BBC television, and the critically acclaimed 'Andalusia: The Legacy of the Moors' for Five.

He lives in Valencia, and on a mountain farm in Castellón in eastern Spain with his wife, a flamenco dancer and actress.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.jasonwebster.net Official website]
* [http://www.apwatt.co.uk/author_full.asp?author_id=345 AP Watt web page on Jason Webster]

Reviews of Webster's books

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/dec/28/featuresreviews.guardianreview13 Review of "Duende"] in The Guardian
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/03/28/boweb28.xml Review of "Andalus"] in The Telegraph
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/07/09/boweb02.xml Review of "Guerra"] in the Sunday Telegraph