Grace McCleen explained

Grace McCleen
Occupation:Author
Notableworks:The Land of Decoration (2012), The Professor of Poetry (2013)
Awards:The Desmond Elliot Prize 2012, The Betty Trask Award 2013

Grace McCleen (born 1981) is a British novelist. She has won the Desmond Elliott Prize, Betty Trask Award and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize.

Life

McCleen was brought up in a fundamentalist Christian sect in Wales and for most of her childhood did not have much contact with outsiders.[1] [2] [3]

McCleen went to the University of Oxford to read English Literature aged 22.[4] She later completed a MA, also in English Literature, at the University of York. She experienced opposition from her religious community to her decision to attend university.[5] "It was an enormous step and one I almost didn't take, and one I felt bad about taking for many years afterwards, until I realised I hadn't done anything wrong."[6]

After graduation she experienced a mental breakdown and suffered from tinnitus and Chronic fatigue syndrome. During her illness, she wrote "a long novel. It didn’t work and from that novel came three novels":[7] The Land of Decoration (2012), The Professor of Poetry (2013), and The Offering (2015).

McCleen has said that she will not continue to write fiction. "Writing is really destructive to me."[8] "I feel it's sort of like a knife in me".[9] She may, however, continue to write poetry.[10]

In 2016 McCleen was writer in residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum; McCleen's time as writer in residence inspired Every Sounding Line, a collection of poetry influenced by the Brontë family.[11] In 2017 she was writer in residence at the Manchester Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester.

McCleen is also a musician, singer and songwriter.[12] She writes occasionally for The Guardian.[13]

Critical reception

The Land of Decoration was described by Amity Gaige in The New York Times Book Review as "Gripping ... philosophically sophisticated ... The writing is born of a genuine inquiry into the nature of religious belief, especially as it relates to one’s psychological development".[14] Chris Cleave in Financial Times called the book "loveable, unique and thrillingly uncategorisable ... an extraordinary and peculiarly haunting novel.’[15] Colin Greenland, however, in The Guardian, felt that "the world outside is ... contrived and confused ... [and that this] perilously weakens [McCleen's] argument".,[16] and Ron Charles, in The Washington Post, felt "Much of the language here is too flat and pedestrian. Other passages soar into flights of preciousness".[17]

The Professor of Poetry was described by Hilary Mantel as "an astonishing and luminous novel".[18] Hepzibah Anderson in The Observer found "sentences here of such agile cleverness, charged with wit and beauty and enchantment."[19] Kate Clanchy, also in The Observer, however, found it "conservative and anti-feminist".[20]

Sam Kitchener in The Telegraph said of The Offering that "Huge questions, of faith, time, reality, individual responsibility and human sexuality are given pained and peculiar answers".[21] Max Liu in The Independent wrote that "Some of the dense, descriptive passages are frustrating to read but difficulty is one of this novel’s enduring themes".[22]

Influences

McCleen has said that she is influenced by Marilynne Robinson, Cormac McCarthy, W. G. Sebald, Thomas Mann, Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Walt Whitman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Franz Kafka and the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville .[23]

Bibliography

Novels

The Land of Decoration has been translated into 16 languages.

Other work

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The 2012 Prize. The Desmond Elliott Prize. 22 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081236/http://www.desmondelliottprize.org.uk/previous-winners/2012-prize/. live.
  2. Web site: Tashlee. "I think I find words hardest of all": new author Grace McCleen speaks to World of Books about her debut novel, her little people, and her inspirations. World of Books. 22 November 2017. 22 March 2012. 22 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170522135238/http://blog.worldofbooks.com/?p=513. live.
  3. News: Barr. Nicola. The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen – review. 22 November 2017. The Observer. 4 March 2012. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044608/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/04/land-of-decoration-grace-mccleen-review. live.
  4. News: Q&A with author Grace McCleen. 22 November 2017. The Financial Times. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041848/https://www.ft.com/content/a1d9deb2-85eb-11e4-a105-00144feabdc0. live.
  5. Web site: Writers in residence. Centre for New Writing. University of Manchester. 22 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081001/https://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/centrefornewwriting/about/our-people/writers-in-residence/. live.
  6. Web site: About The Author. Foyles. 22 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031522/http://www.foyles.co.uk/Grace-McCleen. live.
  7. Web site: Inspirations: Grace McCleen, author of The Land of Decoration. 26. 22 November 2017. 22 March 2012. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044905/https://26.org.uk/features/interviews/inspirations-grace-mccleen-author-of-the-land-of-decoration. live.
  8. News: Kean. Danuta. Grace McCleen: 'Writing is really destructive to me'. 22 November 2017. The Independent. 6 July 2013. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041729/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/grace-mccleen-writing-is-really-destructive-to-me-8692567.html. live.
  9. News: Kappala-Ramsamy. Gemma. Debut novelist: Grace McCleen. 22 November 2017. The Guardian. 26 February 2012. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042955/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/26/grace-mccleen-land-of-decoration. live.
  10. Web site: Sophie. Q&A with Grace McCleen. Fiction Uncovered. 22 November 2017. 8 August 2015. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131442/http://www.fictionuncovered.co.uk/2015/08/qa-with-grace-mccleen/. live.
  11. News: Knights . David . 3 September 2015 . Book of Brontë-inspired poems to be launched in Haworth . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132718/http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/14721443.display/ . 1 December 2017 . 22 November 2017 . Telegraph and Argus.
  12. News: Alex. Clark. Why we're watching: Grace McCleen, author. 22 November 2017. The Guardian. 22 January 2012. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032526/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/jan/22/why-were-watching-grace-mccleen. live.
  13. Web site: Grace McCleen. The Guardian. 22 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040633/https://www.theguardian.com/profile/grace-mccleen. live.
  14. Gage . Amity . 22 June 2012 . Child of God: 'The Land of Decoration,' by Grace McCleen . live . The New York Times . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044001/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/books/review/the-land-of-decoration-by-grace-mccleen.html . 1 December 2017 . 22 November 2017.
  15. News: Small wonders . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924152512/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1e0c4536-616b-11e1-8a8e-00144feabdc0.html . 24 September 2015 . 16 April 2014 . Financial Times.
  16. News: Greenland . Colin . 23 March 2012 . The Land of Decoration by Grace McLeen – review . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044736/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/23/land-decoration-grace-mcleen-review . 1 December 2017 . 22 November 2017 . The Guardian.
  17. News: Charles . Ron . 20 March 2012 . "The Land of Decoration," by Grace McCleen . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171206213409/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-land-of-decoration-by-grace-mccleen/2012/03/12/gIQA5WS8PS_story.html . 6 December 2017 . 22 November 2017 . The Washington Post.
  18. Web site: Writing . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140416182743/http://gracemccleen.com/gracemccleen/writing.html . 2014-04-16 . 2014-04-16.
  19. News: Hephzibah Anderson . The Professor of Poetry by Grace McCleen – review . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170312073237/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/28/professor-poetry-grace-mccleen-review . 12 March 2017 . 11 December 2016 . The Observer.
  20. News: Kate Clanchy . The Professor of Poetry by Grace McCleen – review . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201045615/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/20/professor-poetry-grace-mccleen-review . 1 December 2017 . 24 April 2024 . The Guardian.
  21. News: Kitchener . Sam . 22 Jan 2015 . The Offering by Grace McCleen, review: 'impressive and moving' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171203141454/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11347951/The-Offering-by-Grace-McCleen-review.html . 3 December 2017 . 22 November 2017 . The Telegraph.
  22. News: Liu . Max . 18 January 2015 . The Offering by Grace McCleen, book review: Tale of a troubled past is full of emotional power . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041746/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-offering-by-grace-mccleen-book-review-tale-of-a-troubled-past-is-full-of-emotional-power-9986468.html . 1 December 2017 . 22 November 2017 . The Independent.
  23. News: Grace McCleen . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032829/https://www.ft.com/content/5c0acd28-ee17-11e2-a325-00144feabdc0 . 1 December 2017 . 22 November 2017 . The Financial Times.
  24. News: Feay. Suzi. The Professor of Poetry, By Grace McCleen. 22 November 2017. The Independent. 12 July 2013. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042117/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-professor-of-poetry-by-grace-mccleen-8706124.html. live.
  25. Web site: The Offering By Grace McCleen. Hodder and Stoughton. 22 November 2017. 27 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170927230255/https://www.hodder.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781444769999. live.
  26. Foster. Rebecca. How Much the Heart Can Hold: Seven Stories on Love by Carys Bray and others. Bookbag. 22 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030632/http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=How_Much_the_Heart_Can_Hold:_Seven_Stories_on_Love_by_Carys_Bray_and_others. live.
  27. Web site: The 2012 Prize . The Desmond Elliott Prize . 2017-03-08 . 19 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170319194320/http://www.desmondelliottprize.org.uk/previous-winners/2012-prize/ . dead .
  28. Web site: The Society of Authors . The Society of Authors . 2017-03-08 . 18 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190518125852/https://www.societyofauthors.org/Prizes/Fiction/Betty-Trask/Past-winners . dead .
  29. Web site: Winners Announced of Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2015 . Foyles.co.uk . 2015-06-19 . 2017-03-08 . 1 December 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035651/http://www.foyles.co.uk/news/Jerwood-2015-Winners . live .

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