Sarah Perry
| Sarah Perry | |
|---|---|
| File:Sarah Perry, Writer.jpg | |
| Born | 28 November 1979 Chelmsford, England |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Royal Holloway University |
| Period | 2003 - present |
Sarah Grace Perry (née Butler) is an English author, academic, and journalist. She was born in 1979 in Chelmsford, Essex. She has a PhD in creative writing from Royal Holloway University where her supervisor was Sir Andrew Motion. Her first novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was published in 2014 by Serpent's Tail.[1]
Early life
Born into a family of devout Christians who were members of a Strict Baptist chapel, Perry grew up with almost no access to contemporary art, culture, and writing. The first novel she remembers reading was Jane Eyre, and she filled her time with classical music, classic novels and poetry, and church-related activities. She credits her writing style to having only the Bible and classical writings to which to refer.[2]
Academic career
Her PhD thesis was on the Gothic in the writing of Iris Murdoch, and she has subsequently published an article on the Gothic in Aeon magazine.[3][4]
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
I wrote about the power of place in my PhD thesis, particularly the importance of buildings in the Gothic (a genre which I find myself inhabiting without ever having meant to). Fiction in the Gothic inheritance makes much of the potent importance of the interior, from the castle where Jonathan Harker finds himself holed up to Thornfield, and from the suburban homes in Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black to the ghastly crypts in The Monk.
In January 2013 she became writer in residence at Gladstone's Library.[5]
Her website states that her current research includes friendship, Tennyson, Essex legends & late 19th century surgical science.[6]
Journalism
Perry continues to work as a legal journalist. She also writes on the arts, and her articles on both subjects have appeared in a number of publications including The Spectator, The Guardian, and The Oldie.[7]
Novel
Perry's debut novel, After Me Comes the Flood, was released in 2014 by Serpent's Tail, receiving high praise from reviewers including those of The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian.[8] The novel tells the story of a man named John Cole who wanders into a strange world while seeking out his brother amidst a drought. John Burnside of The Guardian called it "extraordinary" and "a remarkable debut." [9]
Awards
Perry won the Shiva Naipaul prize for travel writing after writing an article about her experiences in the Philippines.[10] [7]
References
- ↑ Serpent's Tail
- ↑ Sarah Perry, Reading lessons of a religious upbringing without modern books, The Guardian, 1 July, 2014.
- ↑ Sublime Contagion
- ↑ Sarah Perry, The Genesis of 'After Me Comes the Flood', Shiny New Books, 2014.
- ↑ Sarah Perry at the Gladstone Library
- ↑ Sarah Perry, Website Biography, 22 July 2014.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Rowan Mantell, Norfolk author Sarah Perry tipped for stardom with debut novel After Me Comes The Flood, EDP24, 27 June 2014
- ↑ Catherine Blyth, After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry, review: 'a dazzling new talent', The Telegraph, 15 July 2014.
- ↑ John Burnside, After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry review – a remarkable debut, The Guardian, 26 June 2014.
- ↑ Shiva Naipaul prize essay, The Spectator
External links
- Use dmy dates from December 2015
- Use British English from December 2015
- Pages with broken file links
- English writers
- English women novelists
- People from Chelmsford
- 1979 births
- Living people
- People educated at Chelmsford County High School for Girls
- English women journalists
- Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London
