Alba Arikha (born 1966) is a French-born writer who lives and works in the United Kingdom.
Brought up in Paris, her father was the Franco-Israeli artist Avigdor Arikha. Her mother is the American poet, Anne Atik.[1] Her sister, Noga Arikha, is a historian.[2] Arikha received her BA from Hampshire College, and her MFA from Columbia University.
Arikha has written six books. Her first two, Muse[3] and Walking on Ice,[4] were written under the name Alba Branca. Arikha's memoir Major/Minor[5] was published in 2011 by Quartet Books. Charting her artistic childhood in Paris, coupled with memories of her godfather, Samuel Beckett, the book was shortlisted for the Spear's Awards[6] and selected by The New Yorker among the best books of 2012.[7] The paperback edition was published in 2017. An article about her family and Beckett was published in the TLS in October 2020.[8]
She wrote a narrative poem, ‘Soon,’ published by CB Editions in 2013[9] and turned into an opera, one of two projects Arikha collaborated on as librettist with her husband, composer Tom Smail.[10] It was performed in August 2013, at the Riverside Studios, in London. The second one, 'Blue Electric,' with music by Tom Smail,[11] was based on Major/Minor was performed in August 2018 at the Tête-à-Tête Opera festival at RADA,[12] and was directed by Hugh Hudson. The full production was performed at the Playground Theatre, London, in October 2020, directed by Orpha Phelan.[13] Her novel, Where to find me, was published by Alma Books in 2018.[14] It was selected among the best books of 2018 in the Evening Standard,[15] and long listed for the 2020 Wingate Prize.[16]
Her novel Two Hours was published by Eris Press in 2024.[17] Charting a woman’s voyage through love, loss and eventually freedom in 1980’s New York, Paris, London and Rome, it was described by John Self in the Observer, as ‘concise, rigorous and heartbreaking,’[18] and ‘a literary masterpiece of grace and weight,’[19] by Helen Cullen in the Irish Times.
Arikha is a regular contributor to Radio 4,[20] and was included in Pick of the Week.[21] Since 2012, she has been teaching creative writing for various institutions such as the Royal Academy of Art[22] and the Chocolate Factory[23] and has been involved with Guardian masterclasses,[24] since 2015, where she teaches classes on short fiction. In Spring 2017 she was Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University,[25] where she taught a masterclass in non-fiction. Her poem about the lockdown, ‘What I know,’ was published in Tortoise Media in 2020.[26]
Alba is also a pianist and songwriter, and has performed in Paris and London. She has recorded two CDs of songs, Si j’ai aimé[27] and Dans les rues de Paris.[28] She has also written a song based on the main character of her novel, Where to find me.
In 2019, she was a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, where she taught creative writing.[29]
Arikha has two children from her previous marriage. She now married to the composer Tom Smail, and they both live in London.[30]
Fiction:
Non-Fiction:
Operas:
Music: