Alan Hollinghurst facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir
Alan Hollinghurst
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![]() Alan Hollinghurst at the 2011 Texas Book Festival
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Born | Alan James Hollinghurst 26 May 1954 Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom |
Occupation | Writer, translator |
Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford (BA, MLitt) |
Period | 1975– |
Genre | Novel, poem, short story |
Notable works | The Swimming-Pool Library The Folding Star The Spell The Line of Beauty The Stranger's Child The Sparsholt Affair Our Evenings |
Notable awards | Newdigate Prize 1974 Stonewall Book Award 1989 Somerset Maugham Award 1989 James Tait Black Memorial Prize 1994 Booker Prize 2004 |
Sir Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is a famous English writer. He writes novels, poems, and short stories. He also works as a translator, changing books from one language to another.
Alan Hollinghurst has won several important awards for his writing. These include the Somerset Maugham Award in 1989 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1994. In 2004, he won the very prestigious Booker Prize for his novel The Line of Beauty.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alan Hollinghurst was born in Stroud, a town in Gloucestershire, England. He was the only child of James and Elizabeth Hollinghurst. His father worked as a bank manager.
He went to Canford School in Dorset. After that, he studied English at Magdalen College, Oxford. He earned his first degree in 1975 and a master's degree in 1979. While at Oxford, he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. This is a special award for student poets.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Alan Hollinghurst taught at several colleges in Oxford and at University College London. In 1982, he started working for The Times Literary Supplement, which is a well-known literary newspaper. He became the deputy editor there from 1985 to 1990.
Writing Career
Alan Hollinghurst is known for his detailed and beautiful writing style. Many people consider him one of the best writers of our time.
His novel The Line of Beauty won the Booker Prize in 2004. This award is one of the most important in the English-speaking world for novels. His next novel, The Stranger's Child, was also considered for the Booker Prize in 2011.
Critics have praised his writing. The Guardian newspaper called him "one of the great writers of our time." The Sunday Times said that his sentences are crafted so well, he has "no obvious living equal" in English writing.
Personal Life
Alan Hollinghurst lives in London. He has shared that writing takes a lot of focus for him. He often needs to work alone for long periods to create his stories.
Awards and Honours
- 1974: Newdigate Prize
- 1989: Somerset Maugham Award, for The Swimming-Pool Library
- 1989: Stonewall Book Award, for The Swimming-Pool Library
- 1994: James Tait Black Memorial Prize, for The Folding Star
- 2004: Booker Prize, for The Line of Beauty
- 2011: Booker Prize, longlist for The Stranger's Child
- 2011: Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from Publishing Triangle
List of Works
Poetry
- Isherwood is at Santa Monica (Sycamore Broadsheet 22: two poems, hand-printed on a single folded sheet), Oxford: Sycamore Press 1975
- Poetry Introduction 4 (ten poems), Faber and Faber, 1978 ISBN: 9780571111435
- Confidential Chats with Boys, Oxford: Sycamore Press 1982
- "Mud" (London Review of Books, Vol. 4, No. 19, 21 October 1982)
Short Stories
- A Thieving Boy (Firebird 2: Writing Today, Penguin, 1983)
- Sharps and Flats (Granta 43, 1993)
- Highlights (Granta 100, 2007)
Novels
- The Swimming-Pool Library, 1988 ISBN: 9780679722564
- The Folding Star, 1994 ISBN: 9780099476917
- The Spell, 1998 ISBN: 9780099276944
- The Line of Beauty, 2004 ISBN: 9780330483216
- The Stranger's Child, 2011 ISBN: 9780330483278
- The Sparsholt Affair, 2017 ISBN: 9781447208228
- Our Evenings, 2024 ISBN: 9781447208235
Translations
- Bajazet by Jean Racine, Chatto & Windus, 1991 ISBN: 9780701138530
- Bérénice and Bajazet by Jean Racine, Faber and Faber, 2012 ISBN: 9780571299089
As Editor
- New Writing 4 (with A. S. Byatt), 1995 ISBN: 9780099532316
- A. E. Housman: poems selected by Alan Hollinghurst, Faber and Faber, 2001 ISBN: 9780571207053
Foreword
- Three Novels by Ronald Firbank, 2000 ISBN: 9780141182193
See Also
In Spanish: Alan Hollinghurst para niños