A. L. Kennedy

Alison Louise "A. L." Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction, academic and stand-up comedian. She is known for her characteristically dark tone, a blending of realism and fantasy, and for her serious approach to her work. She contributes columns and reviews to European newspapers.

Life and work

Kennedy was born 22 October 1965 in Dundee to Edwardene Mildred, a teacher, and Robert Alan Kennedy, a psychology lecturer. Her parents divorced when she was 13. She attended the fee-paying High School of Dundee and went on to study for a BA Hons in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts at the University of Warwick.^[1][2][3]

From 1980 to 1989 Kennedy was a community arts worker for Clydebank District Council. She then went on to a role as Writer-In-Residence for Hamilton and East Kilbride Social Work Department from 1989 to 1991. From 1989 to 1995 she worked on Project Ability, a Glasgow-based visual arts organisation. In 1995 she was a part-time lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.^[3][4]

In 2009, she donated the short story Vanish to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Air' collection.^[5]

Kennedy currently lives in London and has been an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Warwick^[6] since 2007, having previously taught creative writing at the University of St Andrews from 2003 to 2007. She has performed as a stand-up comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe and literary festivals. Her main comedy club has been The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.^[7]

Awards and honours

• Scottish Arts Council Book Award four times^[4]
• 1990, 1993, 2003 Granta Best Young British Novelist^[4][8]
• 1991 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year, Night Geometry And The Garscadden Trains^[9]
• 1993 Edinburgh Fringe First, The Audition^[9][10]
• 1994 Somerset Maugham Award, Looking for the possible dance^[4][9]
• 1996 Encore Award winner, So I Am Glad^[11]
• 2007 Saltire Society Book of the Year, Day^[4][12]
• 2007 Lannan Literary Award for fiction^[4]
• 2007 Austrian State Prize for European Literature winner.^[13]
• 2007 Costa Book Awards Book of the Year, winner for Day^[14]
• 2008 Internationale Eifel-Literatur-Preis^[4][15]
• 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award shortlist All the Rage^[16]
• 2016 Heinrich Heine Prize^[17]

Works

Novels

• Looking for the Possible Dance (1993) ISBN 978-0-7493-9758-6
• So I Am Glad (1995) ISBN 978-0-09-945721-3
• Everything You Need (1999) ISBN 978-0-09-973061-3
• Paradise (2004) ISBN 978-0-09-943349-1
• Day (5 April 2007) ISBN 978-0-09-949405-8
• The Blue Book (4 August 2011) ISBN 978-0-224-09140-4
• Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse (14 July 2015) ISBN 978-0-553-41944-3
• Serious Sweet (19 May 2016) ISBN 978-0-224-09844-1

Short story collections

• Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains (1990) ISBN 978-0-09-945006-1
• Now That You're Back (1994) ISBN 978-0-09-945711-4
• Tea and Biscuits (1996) ISBN 978-1-85799-757-6
• Original Bliss (1997) ISBN 978-0-09-973071-2
• Indelible Acts (2002) ISBN 978-0-09-943348-4
• What Becomes (6 August 2009) ISBN 978-0-224-07787-3
• All the Rage (2014) ISBN 978-0544307049

Non-fiction

• Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1997) ISBN 0-85170-568-5
• On Bullfighting (1999) ISBN 0-224-06099-6
• On Writing (2013) ISBN 978-0-224-09697-3

Screenwriting

• Stella Does Tricks (1997)
• Dice (2001), with John Burnside

Selected radio

• Confessions of a Medium (2010), broadcast as the Saturday Play on BBC Radio 4, 13 March 2010 and 1 March 2013^[18]
• Happy Families (2011), broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 1 September 2011
• Love Love Love Like The Beatles (2012), broadcast as the Afternoon Drama on BBC Radio 4, 26 June 2012
• AA: America's Gift to the World (2014), broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 6 April 2015.^[19]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A. L. Kennedy.

• Official website
• A. L. Kennedy at British Council: Literature
• A L Kennedy at the Guardian
• BBC profile
• AL Kennedy reading at writLOUD in London