Michelene Wandor
Encyclopedia
Michelene Dinah Wandor is an English
playwright, critic, broadcaster, poet, lecturer, and musician. Her parents, Abraham Samuels and Rosalie Wandor, were early 20th-century Russian Jewish émigrés.
After attending Chingford Secondary Modern and High Schools, Wandor studied English at Newnham College, Cambridge
graduating in 1962. She also has Masters degrees from the University of Essex
(Sociology of Literature 1975-6) and in Music from London University
/Trinity College of Music
, London.
Wandor has been active in the Women's Liberation Movement
since 1969 and edited its first collection of essays The Body Politic in 1972. Once a Feminist followed in 1990 and is an oral history of the previous twenty years. She was poetry editor of the original Time Out magazine from 1971 to 1982.
She was the first woman to have a play performed on one of the main stages (Lyttelton Theatre) of the National Theatre
, The Wandering Jew (from the novel by Eugene Sue
), performed in 1987. Wandor has adapted numerous novels for BBC Radio since the late-1970s including works by Jane Austen
, Margaret Drabble, George Eliot
and Rudyard Kipling
. Her collection of short stories False Relations appeared in 2004.
In addition Wandor has written two theatre studies: Carry On, Understudies: Theatre and Sexual Politics (1986, expanded version of Understudies 1981) and Post-war British Drama: Looking Back in Gender (2001, original edition Look Back in Gender 1987). For Methuen she has edited four collections of Plays by Women.
Wandor describes herself as "a good Jewish atheist." Her recent poetry reflects her background and the history of Jews in England. Music of the Prophets (2007) commemorates the 350th anniversary of the Jews return to England in 1657 in the era of Cromwell
.
A trained early musician, Wandor performs Renaissance and Baroque music with the group 'The Siena Ensemble', and has broadcast and recorded in this role.
Wandor has taught at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama
, London Metropolitan University
and comparable institutions abroad. At Lancaster University she is currently a lecturer in Creative Writing. In 2008, Macmillan published Wandor's thoughts on this subject, The Author Is Not Dead, Merely Somewhere Else: Creative Writing Reconceived.
Michelene Wandor married literary agent Ed Victor
in 1963; they divorced in 1975 having had two sons together.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
playwright, critic, broadcaster, poet, lecturer, and musician. Her parents, Abraham Samuels and Rosalie Wandor, were early 20th-century Russian Jewish émigrés.
After attending Chingford Secondary Modern and High Schools, Wandor studied English at Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
graduating in 1962. She also has Masters degrees from the University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
(Sociology of Literature 1975-6) and in Music from London University
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
/Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
, London.
Wandor has been active in the Women's Liberation Movement
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
since 1969 and edited its first collection of essays The Body Politic in 1972. Once a Feminist followed in 1990 and is an oral history of the previous twenty years. She was poetry editor of the original Time Out magazine from 1971 to 1982.
She was the first woman to have a play performed on one of the main stages (Lyttelton Theatre) of the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, The Wandering Jew (from the novel by Eugene Sue
Eugène Sue
Joseph Marie Eugène Sue was a French novelist.He was born in Paris, the son of a distinguished surgeon in Napoleon's army, and is said to have had the Empress Joséphine for godmother. Sue himself acted as surgeon both in the Spanish campaign undertaken by France in 1823 and at the Battle of Navarino...
), performed in 1987. Wandor has adapted numerous novels for BBC Radio since the late-1970s including works by Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, Margaret Drabble, George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
and Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. Her collection of short stories False Relations appeared in 2004.
In addition Wandor has written two theatre studies: Carry On, Understudies: Theatre and Sexual Politics (1986, expanded version of Understudies 1981) and Post-war British Drama: Looking Back in Gender (2001, original edition Look Back in Gender 1987). For Methuen she has edited four collections of Plays by Women.
Wandor describes herself as "a good Jewish atheist." Her recent poetry reflects her background and the history of Jews in England. Music of the Prophets (2007) commemorates the 350th anniversary of the Jews return to England in 1657 in the era of Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
A trained early musician, Wandor performs Renaissance and Baroque music with the group 'The Siena Ensemble', and has broadcast and recorded in this role.
Wandor has taught at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
, London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University , located in London, England, was formed on 1 August 2002 by the amalgamation of the University of North London and the London Guildhall University . The University has campuses in the City of London and in the London Borough of Islington.The University operates its...
and comparable institutions abroad. At Lancaster University she is currently a lecturer in Creative Writing. In 2008, Macmillan published Wandor's thoughts on this subject, The Author Is Not Dead, Merely Somewhere Else: Creative Writing Reconceived.
Michelene Wandor married literary agent Ed Victor
Ed Victor
Ed Victor is one of the world's leading Literary Agents.-Biography:Victor is the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, who ran a photographic equipment store...
in 1963; they divorced in 1975 having had two sons together.