Graham Colin Swift FRSL (born May 4, 1949) is a well-known
BritishGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
author. He was born in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and educated at
Dulwich CollegeDulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, south-east London, United Kingdom. The College was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1600...
, London,
Queens' College, CambridgeQueens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was first founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
, and later the
University of YorkThe University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
. He was a friend of
Ted HughesEdward James Hughes OM was an English poet and children's writer, known as Ted Hughes. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to the American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 through 1962...
Some of his works have been made into films, including
Last OrdersLast Orders is a 1996 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author Graham Swift. In 2001 it was adapted for the film Last Orders by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi...
, which starred
Michael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English film actor. Caine has appeared in more than 100 films, and is one of only two actors to have been nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade since the 1960s Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr.; 14 March 1933) is an...
and
Bob HoskinsRobert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor, known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, and for his performances in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Hook , and Super Mario Bros. .-Early life:Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England,...
and
WaterlandWaterland is a 1983 novel by Graham Swift, made into a 1992 movie starring Jeremy Irons. It is considered to be the author's premier novel and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize ....
which starred
Jeremy IronsJeremy John Irons is an English film, television, and stage actor. He has won the Academy Award, the Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to many other awards and honors....
.
Last Orders was a joint winner of the 1996
James Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction and a mildly controversial winner of the Booker Prize in 1996, owing to the superficial similarities in plot to
William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner was a Nobel Prize-winning American author. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century, his reputation is based on his novels, novellas and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter.Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state...
's
As I Lay Dying.
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Graham Colin Swift FRSL (born May 4, 1949) is a well-known
BritishGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
author. He was born in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and educated at
Dulwich CollegeDulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, south-east London, United Kingdom. The College was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1600...
, London,
Queens' College, CambridgeQueens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was first founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
, and later the
University of YorkThe University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
. He was a friend of
Ted HughesEdward James Hughes OM was an English poet and children's writer, known as Ted Hughes. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to the American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 through 1962...
Some of his works have been made into films, including
Last OrdersLast Orders is a 1996 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author Graham Swift. In 2001 it was adapted for the film Last Orders by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi...
, which starred
Michael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English film actor. Caine has appeared in more than 100 films, and is one of only two actors to have been nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade since the 1960s Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr.; 14 March 1933) is an...
and
Bob HoskinsRobert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor, known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, and for his performances in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Hook , and Super Mario Bros. .-Early life:Hoskins was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England,...
and
WaterlandWaterland is a 1983 novel by Graham Swift, made into a 1992 movie starring Jeremy Irons. It is considered to be the author's premier novel and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize ....
which starred
Jeremy IronsJeremy John Irons is an English film, television, and stage actor. He has won the Academy Award, the Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to many other awards and honors....
.
Last Orders was a joint winner of the 1996
James Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction and a mildly controversial winner of the Booker Prize in 1996, owing to the superficial similarities in plot to
William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner was a Nobel Prize-winning American author. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century, his reputation is based on his novels, novellas and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter.Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state...
's
As I Lay Dying.
Waterland was set in
The FensThe Fens, also known as the Fenland, is a geographic area in eastern England, in the United Kingdom.The Fenland primarily lies around the coast of the Wash; it reaches into two Government regions , four ceremonial counties , 11 District Councils and six postcode areas The Fens, also known as the...
; it is a novel of landscape, history and family, and is often cited as one of the outstanding post-war British novels and has been a set text on the English Literature syllabus in British schools.
Novels
- The Sweet-Shop Owner (1980
The year 1980 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman to be elected to the Académie française....
)
- Shuttlecock (1982
The year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*La Bicyclette Bleue by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.-New books:...
) -- winner of the 1983 Geoffrey Faber Memorial PrizeThe Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman publisher Faber & Faber...
- Waterland
Waterland is a 1983 novel by Graham Swift, made into a 1992 movie starring Jeremy Irons. It is considered to be the author's premier novel and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize ....
(1983The year 1983 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ironweed by William Kennedy is published.*Salvage for the Saint by Peter Bloxsom and John Kruse is published. This is the final book in a series of novels, novellas and short stories featuring the Leslie Charteris...
)
- Out of This World (1988
The year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*R. A. Salvatore - The Crystal Shard - first book of the The Icewind Dale Trilogy*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age...
)
- Ever After (1992
The year 1992 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Ben Aaronovitch - Transit*Julia Álvarez - How the García Girls Lost Their Accents*Paul Auster - Leviathan*Iain Banks - The Crow Road...
)
- Last Orders
Last Orders is a 1996 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author Graham Swift. In 2001 it was adapted for the film Last Orders by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi...
(1996) -- winner of the 1996The year 1996 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is removed from an advanced placement English reading list in Lindale, Texas because it "conflicted with the values of the community."* In the United Kingdom, the first...
Booker Prize
- The Light of Day (2003
The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* September 9 - Barnes & Noble, the largest American bookseller, announces that it will no longer sell downloadable electronic texts sometimes called ebooks.-New books:...
)
- Tomorrow
Tomorrow is a novel by Graham Swift first published in 2007 about the impending disclosure of a family secret. Set in Putney, London on the night of Friday, June 16, 1995, the novel takes the form of an interior monologue by a 49 year-old mother addressed to her sleeping teenage children...
(2007The year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:*Gilbert Adair - A Mysterious Affair of Style...
)
External links