Rose Tremain Explained
Dame Rose Tremain (born 2 August 1943) is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia.[1]
Life
Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on 2 August 1943 in London to Viola Mabel Thomson and Keith Nicholas Home Thomson.[2] Her paternal great-grandfather is William Thomson, who was Archbishop of York from 1862 to 1890.[3]
She was educated at Francis Holland School, Crofton Grange School, the Sorbonne (1961–1962) and the University of East Anglia (BA, English Literature).[4] She later went on to teach creative writing at the University of East Anglia from 1988 to 1995, and was appointed Chancellor in 2013.[5]
She married Jon Tremain in 1971 and they had one daughter, Eleanor, born in 1972, who became an actress. The marriage lasted about five years. Her second marriage, to theatre director Jonathan Dudley, in 1982, lasted about nine years; and she has been with Richard Holmes since 1992.[6] She lives in Thorpe St Andrew near Norwich in Norfolk.[7] [8] [9]
Writing
Her influences include William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, and Gabriel García Márquez's 1967 novel 100 Years of Solitude and the magical realism style.
She is a historical novelist who approaches her subjects "from unexpected angles, concentrating her attention on unglamorous outsiders."[4]
In 2009, she donated the short story The Jester of Astapovo to Oxfam's "Ox-Tales" project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Earth" collection.[10]
She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1983. Already Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), Tremain was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to writing.
Awards and honours
- 1984 Dylan Thomas Prize
- 1984 Giles Cooper Award, Temporary Shelter (play)
- 1989 Sunday Express Book of the Year, Restoration
- 1989 Booker Prize, shortlist, Restoration[11]
- 1992 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Sacred Country
- 1994 Prix Femina Étranger, Sacred Country
- 1999 Whitbread Award, Music and Silence
- 2008 Orange Prize, The Road Home[12]
- 2012 Wellcome Trust Book Prize, shortlist, [13]
- 2013 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, shortlist, [14] [15]
- 2016 National Jewish Book Award for The Gustav Sonata[16]
- 2016 Costa Book Awards (novel), shortlist, The Gustav Sonata[17]
- 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, longlist, The Gustav Sonata[18]
- 2017 Ribalow Prize for The Gustav Sonata[19]
- 2024 Walter Scott Prize, shortlist, Absolutely and Forever[20]
Selected bibliography
Novels
- Sadler's Birthday (1976),
- Letter to Sister Benedicta (1978),
- The Cupboard (1981),
- Journey to the Volcano (1985),
- The Swimming Pool Season (1985),
- Restoration (1989),
- Sacred Country (1992),
- The Way I Found Her (1997),
- Music and Silence (1999),
- The Colour (2003),
- The Road Home (2008),
- Trespass (2010 W.W. Norton),
- (2012),
- The Gustav Sonata (2016),
- Islands of Mercy (2020),
- Lily: A Tale of Revenge (2021),
- Absolutely & Forever (2023),
Collections of short stories
- The Colonel's Daughter and other stories (1983)
- The Garden of the Villa Mollini and other stories (1987)
- Evangelista's Fan and Other Stories (1994)
- The Darkness of Wallis Simpson and other stories (2006)
- The American Lover (2014)
For children
- Journey to the Volcano (1985)
Memoir
- Rosie: Scenes from a Vanished Life (2018)
External links
Notes and References
- News: Writer is new university chancellor. 14 April 2013. BBC News. 24 November 2018. en-GB.
- Web site: Tremain, Dame Rose, (born 2 Aug. 1943), novelist and playwright. 2 August 2021. WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. en. 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U38001. 978-0-19-954088-4.
- Thomson, William (1819–1890), archbishop of York . 2004. en. 10.1093/ref:odnb/27330.
- News: Rustin. Susanna. Costume dramatist. The Guardian. 9 May 2003.
- Web site: Novelist Rose Tremain appointed as new UEA chancellor . BBC News . 14 April 2013 . 9 May 2014.
- Web site: Profile: Rose Tremain. Rustin. Susanna. 10 May 2003. The Guardian. en. 24 November 2018.
- Author Notes from 2002 Vintage edition of Sacred County.
- Web site: Journeys home: Rose Tremain reflects on the past and her present life writing in the south of France . Boyd. Tonkin. Boyd Tonkin. The Independent . 5 March 2010 . 9 May 2014.
- https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/rose-tremain-receives-damehood-from-the-queen-1510364 Norfolk novelist Rose Tremain receives damehood from Queen
- http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/books/books_oxtales.html Oxfam: Ox-Tales
- Web site: 1989 The Man Booker Prizes. themanbookerprize.com. 11 May 2019.
- News: Aspden. Peter. 5 June 2008. Tremain novel on plight of a migrant wins Orange prize. Irish Times.
- Web site: Random House gets four nods for Wellcome Trust Book Prize . The Bookseller . Charlotte . Williams . 15 October 2012 . 9 November 2012.
- Web site: Shortlist for 2013 Walter Scott Prize Announced . Borders Book Festival . 15 June 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130607073644/http://www.bordersbookfestival.org/walter-scott-prize/item/208-shortlist-2013-walter-scott-prize-announced . 7 June 2013 .
- Web site: Tan Twan Eng wins The Walter Scott Prize . Borders Book Festival . 14 June 2013 . 15 June 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130908015806/http://www.bordersbookfestival.org/walter-scott-prize/item/249-tan-twan-eng-wins-walter-scott-prize . 8 September 2013 .
- Web site: Past Winners – Fiction. Jewish Book Council. en. 20 January 2020.
- News: Costa book award 2016 shortlists dominated by female writers. Cain. Sian. 22 November 2016. The Guardian. 11 May 2019. en-GB. 0261-3077.
- Web site: Announcing the 2017 longlist.... 6 March 2017. Women's Prize for Fiction. 11 May 2019.
- News: Rose Tremain's 'Gustav Sonata' wins Ribalow Prize for Jewish fiction . 11 June 2019 . . 25 January 2018.
- Web site: 2024-05-02 . Walter Scott Prize 2024 shortlist announced . 2024-05-10 . Books+Publishing.
