Jason Webster (author)
Encyclopedia
Jason Webster is an Anglo-American crime novelist, travel writer and critic, the main focus of whose work is devoted to Spain
. He was born in California
in 1970 and lives in Valencia, Spain
, Egypt
and Italy
. In 1993 he graduated from Oxford University (St John's College
) with a degree in Arabic and Islamic History
.
Apart from his books, Webster also writes for the British newspapers The Guardian
, The Observer
, Financial Times
and The Daily Mail and reviews occasionally for the New Statesman
and Sunday Telegraph
.
He has appeared in several British TV documentaries, including 'The Islamic History of Europe', presented by Rageh Omaar
on BBC
television, and the critically acclaimed 'Andalusia: The Legacy of the Moors' for Five.
citing allegations that it did not recount the experiences of its author, but those of a guitar tutor in Oxford
with whom Webster was said to have begun his Flamenco studies in 1998.
Webster strongly denied the allegations, describing the book as "essentially true".
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. He was born in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1970 and lives in Valencia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Education
Webster was educated in EnglandEngland
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In 1993 he graduated from Oxford University (St John's College
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
) with a degree in Arabic and Islamic History
Muslim history
Muslim history is the history of Muslim people. In the history of Islam the followers of the religion of Islam have impacted political history, economic history, and military history...
.
Works
Webster is the author of five books on Spain, ranging from travel to history and detective fiction. He has appeared in several television documentaries and his works have been translated into a dozen languages.Books
- Duende: A journey in search of Flamenco (2003), which recounts Webster's move to Spain after university and his his quest to learn flamencoFlamencoFlamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, was long-listed for the Guardian First Book AwardGuardian First Book AwardGuardian First Book Award, issued before 1999 as Guardian Fiction Prize or Guardian Fiction Award, is awarded to new writing in fiction and non-fiction.-History:...
and read on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Book of the WeekBook of the WeekBook of the Week is a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast daily on week days. Each week the selected book, always a non-fiction work, is read in five episodes; each fifteen-minute episode is broadcast in the morning and repeated overnight . The Act of Worship replaces the morning broadcast on...
.
- Andalus: Unlocking the secrets of Moorish Spain (2004) examines the deep impact left on Spain – and by extension the rest of EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
– by the Moorish presence and was adapted as a radio play by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
- Guerra: Living in the shadows of the Spanish Civil War (2006), studied the wounds left by the civil warSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
on contemporary Spain through a combination of history and travel. A Spanish edition, Las heridas abiertas de la guerra civil, was published in 2008 with a prologue by Paul PrestonPaul PrestonPaul Preston CBE is a British historian and Hispanist, specialized in Spanish history, in particular the Spanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 30 years....
of the London School of EconomicsLondon School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
- Sacred Sierra: A year on a Spanish mountain (2009) describes a year that Webster and his Spanish wife spent living on their mountain farm in eastern Spain, on the slopes of the sacred peak of PenyagolosaPenyagolosaPenyagolosa is a mountain in the Alcalatén area, Valencian Community, Spain. Geologically it is part of the Iberian System, located at the eastern end of Iberian Peninsula. Its peak is at 1,813 meters above sea level and is often crowned with snow in the winter.The Penyagolosa is widely...
, working on the land and planting trees with the help of a 12th century Moorish gardening manual. It paints a portrait of a little known part of the country, with details of its folklore, history and customs, and with meditations on stories, the need to preserve them and their importance for communities. Webster made a short promotional film for the book in conjunction with the award-winning Swedish film director David FlamholcDavid FlamholcDavid Flamholc is an award-winning Swedish film-maker and director. He lives in London and works through his company Caravan Film.- External links :...
of Caravan Film.
- Or the Bull Kills You (2011) is a crime novel set in the world of bullfightingBullfightingBullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
. It is the first in a planned series of detective stories set in Valencia around central character Chief Inspector Max Cámara of the Spanish National Police. It was long-listed in July 2011 for the Crime Writers' AssociationCrime Writers' AssociationThe Crime Writers Association is a writers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Peter James and claims 450+ members....
John CreaseyJohn CreaseyJohn Creasey MBE was an English crime and science fiction writer. The author of more than 600 novels, he published them using 28 different pseudonyms, including Anthony Morton, Michael Halliday, Kyle Hunt, J.J. Marric, Jeremy York, Richard Martin, Peter Manton, Norman Deane, Gordon Ashe, Henry St...
(New Blood) Dagger
Apart from his books, Webster also writes for the British newspapers The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
and The Daily Mail and reviews occasionally for the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
.
He has appeared in several British TV documentaries, including 'The Islamic History of Europe', presented by Rageh Omaar
Rageh Omaar
Rageh Omaar , is a Somali born British journalist and writer. His latest book Only Half of Me deals with the tensions between these two sides of his identity. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq...
on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television, and the critically acclaimed 'Andalusia: The Legacy of the Moors' for Five.
Duende controversy
The factual accuracy of Duende was questioned by a 2004 article in The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
citing allegations that it did not recount the experiences of its author, but those of a guitar tutor in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
with whom Webster was said to have begun his Flamenco studies in 1998.
Webster strongly denied the allegations, describing the book as "essentially true".
Interviews with Webster
External links
Reviews of Webster's books
- Review of Duende in The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Review of Andalus in The TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
- Review of Guerra in the Sunday TelegraphSunday TelegraphThe Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
- Review of Sacred Sierra in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- Review of Or the Bull Kills You in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- Review of Or the Bull Kills You in Shots Ezine