Kate Atkinson

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

Atkinson signing books at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (August 2007)
Born 1951 (age 62–63)
York, England, United Kingdom
Occupation Writer
Language English
Alma mater University of Dundee
Genres Crime fiction
Children Eve Worden
www.kateatkinson.co.uk

Kate Atkinson, MBE (born 1951) is an English writer.

Early life, education and early career

She was born in York, and studied English literature at the University of Dundee, gaining her master's degree in 1974. She subsequently studied for a doctorate in American literature. She has often spoken publicly that she failed at the viva (oral examination) stage. After leaving university, she took on a variety of jobs from home help to legal secretary and teacher.

Writing career

Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year ahead of Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh and Roy Jenkins's biography of William Ewart Gladstone. It went on to be a Sunday Times bestseller. Since then, she has published another five novels, one play, and one collection of short stories.

Her work is often celebrated for its wit, wisdom and subtle characterisation, and the surprising twists and plot turns. Her most recent work has featured the former detective Jackson Brodie. She has frequently criticised the media's coverage of her work – when she won the Whitbread award, for example, it was the fact that she was a "single mother" who lived outside London that garnered the most attention.[citation needed]

In 2009, she donated the short story "Lucky We Live Now" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Atkinson's story was published in the Earth collection.[1]

In March 2010, Atkinson appeared at the York Literature Festival, giving a world-premier reading from an early chapter from her novel Started Early, Took My Dog (2010), which is set mainly in the English city of Leeds.

Atkinson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to literature.[2]

Published works

Novels

Plays

  • Abandonment (2000)

Story collections

Television adaptations

All four Jackson Brodie novels have been adapted by other writers for the BBC under the series title Case Histories, featuring Jason Isaacs as Brodie.

Awards

Personal life

Atkinson lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire, for a time, but now lives in Edinburgh.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ox-Tales". Oxfam. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59808. p. 13. 11 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Kate Atkinson". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  4. ↑ Allen, Kate (7 September 2009). "Coben, Cole, Atkinson vie for crime awards". The Bookseller. Retrieved 7 September 2009. 
  5. ↑ "Former winners recapture Costa prize". BBC News. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014. 

External links

Works by Kate Atkinson
Novels
Plays
  • Abandonment (2000)
Short story collections
Authority control
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