Jim Crace

Jim Crace (born March 1, 1946 in Hertfordshire, England) is a contemporary English writer. The winner of numerous awards, Crace also has a large popular following. He currently lives in the Moseley area of Birmingham with his wife. They have two children.

Biography

Crace grew up in Forty Hill, an area at the far northern point of Greater London, close to Enfield where Crace attended Enfield Grammar School. After securing a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of London in 1968, he travelled overseas with the UK organization Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), working in Sudan. Two years later he returned to the UK, and worked with the BBC, writing educational programmes. From 1976 to 1987 he worked as a freelance journalist for "The Daily Telegraph" and other newspapers.

In 1974 he published his first work of prose fiction, "Annie, California Plates" in The New Review, and in the next 10 years would write a number of short stories and radio plays, including:
* "Helter Skelter, Hang Sorrow, Care’ll Kill a Cat", The New Review (December, 1975). Reprinted in Cosmopolitan and included in "", Faber and Faber (1977).
* "Refugees", winner of the Socialist Challenge short story competition (judges: John Fowles, Fay Weldon, Terry Eagleton), Socialist Challenge (1977).
* "Seven Ages", Quarto (June, 1980), broadcast as "Middling" by BBC Radio 3.
* "The Bird Has Flown", radio play, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 28 October 1976.
* "A Coat of Many Colours", radio play, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26 March 1979.

In 1986 Crace published "Continent". "Continent" won the Whitbread First Novel of the Year Award, the David Higham Prize for Fiction, and the Guardian Fiction prize. This work was followed by "The Gift of Stones", "Arcadia", "Signals of Distress", "Quarantine", "Being Dead" and "Six". His most recent novel, "The Pesthouse", was published in the UK in March 2007.

Despite living in Britain, Crace is more successful in the United States, as evidenced by the award of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999.

Crace is a keen amateur birdwatcher. His other major interest is live music at small venues.

Bibliography

* "The Pesthouse" (2007)
* "Six" (UK title: published in the US as "Genesis") (2003)
* "The Devil's Larder" (2001)
* "Being Dead" (1999)
* "Quarantine" (1997)
* "The Slow Digestions of the Night (short stories)" (1995)
* "Signals of Distress" (1994)
* "Arcadia" (1992)
* "The Gift of Stones" (1988)
* "Continent" (1986)

Awards

Booker Prize for Fiction
* 1997 "Quarantine" (shortlist)International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
* 1999 "Being Dead" (shortlist)National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award (USA)
* 1999 "Being Dead"Whitbread Book Awards
*1999 "Being Dead" (Novel - shortlist)
*1997 "Quarantine" (Novel)
*1986 "Continent" (First Novel)Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize
*1995 "Signals of Distress"American Academy of Arts and Letters
*1992 E. M. Forster AwardGAP International Prize for Literature (USA)
*1989 "The Gift of Stones"Premio Antico Fattore
*1988Guardian Fiction Prize
*1986 "Continent"David Higham Prize for Fiction
*1986 "Continent"

Criticism

*Peck, Dale. "The Devil You Know." Rev. of "The Devil's Larder" by Jim Crace. "Hatchet Jobs". New York: New, 2004. 133-49.
* Tew, Philip. "Jim Crace". Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.jim-crace.com/ Jim-Crace.com] - Original source for biography. Permission granted by Andrew Hewitt
* [http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth24 contemporarywriters.com] - Writer profile.
* [http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/threemon_article_jim_crace_interview.htm The Poet of Prose - Jim Crace in interview with Three Monkeys Online]