Fay Weldon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fay Weldon CBE, FRSL
Weldon at the Copenhagen Book Fair in 2008
Born	Franklin Birkinshaw (1931-09-22)22 September 1931 Birmingham, England
Died	4 January 2023(2023-01-04) (aged 91) Northampton, England
Occupation	Author essayist playwright
Period	1963–2018
Notable works	Puffball (1980) The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983) The Cloning of Joanna May (1989) Wicked Women (1995) The Bulgari Connection (2000)
Spouse	Ronald Bateman ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1959)​ Ron Weldon ​ ​ (m. 1963; died 1994)​ Nick Fox ​ ​ (m. 1994; sep. 2020)​
Children	4
Parents	Margaret Jepson (mother)
Relatives	Selwyn Jepson (uncle) Edgar Jepson (grandfather) Alan Birkinshaw (half-brother)

Fay Weldon (born Franklin Birkinshaw; 22 September 1931 – 4 January 2023) was a famous English writer. She wrote many novels, essays, and plays. She was known for her unique stories and for often writing about women's lives and challenges.

During her long career, which lasted 55 years, she published 31 novels. Some of her well-known books include Puffball (1980) and The Cloning of Joanna May (1989). Her most famous work was The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983), which was made into a TV show by the BBC in 1986.

Fay Weldon was married three times and had four children. She openly said she was a feminist. This means she believed in equal rights and opportunities for women. She often wrote about women who were not usually seen as heroines in books. She felt strongly about the unfair lack of equal chances for women.

Early Life and Education

Fay Weldon was born Franklin Birkinshaw in Birmingham, England, on 22 September 1931. She came from a family of writers. Her grandfather, Edgar Jepson, and her mother, Margaret Jepson, were also novelists.

When she was young, Fay grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her father worked there as a doctor. Her parents separated when she was five and later divorced. Fay and her sister spent summers with their father. She went to Christchurch Girls' High School for two years.

Fay described herself as a "plump, cheerful child." She felt that her mother thought she might not get married. Because of this, Fay believed she needed to study hard and make her own way in the world. This idea influenced her writing, leading her to create characters who were often overlooked.

In September 1946, when she was 15, Fay moved back to England with her mother and sister. She won a scholarship to South Hampstead High School. Later, she studied Psychology and Economics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She earned her Master of Arts degree in 1952.

After university, she moved to London. She worked as a clerk at the Foreign Office. She even wrote pamphlets that were dropped in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

Starting Her Career

Before becoming a full-time writer, Fay Weldon had several temporary jobs. She worked as a waitress and a hospital orderly. After leaving the Foreign Office, she got a job at an advertising agency called Crawford's. Here, she worked with another writer, Elizabeth Smart. This job helped her earn enough money to support herself and her young son, Nicolas.

She became a top writer at another advertising agency, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather. She helped make the famous slogan "Go to work on an egg" well-known.

Writing Career

Becoming a Writer

Appearing with Gerard Casey on the TV show After Dark in 1997

In 1963, Fay Weldon started writing for radio and television. Her first novel, The Fat Woman's Joke, was published in 1967. She quickly became a successful and busy writer. She published over thirty novels, many short story collections, and wrote for TV shows. She was often seen and heard on the BBC. She even called herself a "writeaholic" because she loved to write so much.

In 1971, Fay wrote the first episode of the popular TV series Upstairs, Downstairs. She won an award for her script. In 1980, she wrote the screenplay for a TV movie called Life for Christine, which told the story of a young girl facing a tough situation. She also wrote the script for the 1980 BBC miniseries of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Her most famous novel, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, was written in 1983 when she was 52.

Fay Weldon also tried different ways of publishing. Her novel The Hearts and Lives of Men was released in parts, like a series, in a British magazine. She explained that she made up the story as she went along, similar to how Charles Dickens wrote his novels.

In 2000, her novel The Bulgari Connection became famous for including a lot of product placement. The book mentioned the jewelry brand Bulgari many times, as part of a special agreement.

Other Literary Activities

Fay Weldon was also involved in other important literary roles. In 1996, she was a judge at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival. She also led the judges for the 1983 Booker Prize, a major award for novels.

In 2006, she became a Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University in London. She believed that while talent is important, many writing skills can be taught. She later became a Professor at Bath Spa University in 2012.

She also served on the board of the Danish Press Freedom Society, showing her support for free speech.

Beliefs on Feminism

Fay Weldon was a strong feminist. She often wrote about "overweight, plain women" because she wanted to give a voice to women who were not often featured in stories. She believed that women were often overlooked in media.

She said many things made her a feminist. One reason was the unfair lack of equal chances for women in society. She also challenged the idea that men were always the main providers and women just stayed home. A key moment for her was seeing how women were treated unfairly in the media industry. She saw male directors choosing actresses based on looks rather than talent, which showed her how little women's skills were valued.

Personal Life

In 1953, Fay Weldon had her first son, Nicolas. In 1957, she married Ronald Bateman, a headmaster. This marriage lasted two years.

In 1961, she met her second husband, Ron Weldon, a jazz musician. They married in 1963, and she had her second son, Dan, that same year. They later had two more sons, Tom and Sam. Fay started writing for radio and TV while pregnant with Dan. Ron Weldon left Fay in 1992, and they began divorce proceedings. He passed away in 1994, just before their divorce was final.

In 1994, Fay married Nick Fox, a poet who was also her manager. They separated in 2020.

In 2000, Fay Weldon became a member of the Church of England. She died on 4 January 2023, at the age of 91, in Northampton, England. She was survived by her sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Awards and Recognition

Fay Weldon received several awards for her writing:

• Writers' Guild Award for her TV script "On Trial" (1973)
• Nominated for the Booker Prize for her novel Praxis (1979)
• Winner of the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize for The Heart of the Country (1989)
• PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award for Wicked Women (1996)
• Appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2001, a high honor in the UK.

Literary Works

Novels

Series

She Devil

• The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1983)
• Death of a She Devil (2017)

Love and Inheritance

• Habits of the House (2012)
• Long Live the King (2013)
• The New Countess (2013)
• Love and Inheritance Trilogy (2013) – All three books together

Spoils of War

• Before the War (2017)
• After the Peace (2018)

The Chapbooks

• The Rules of Life (1987)
• Wolf the Mechanical Dog (1988)
• The Roots of Violence (1989)
• Party Puddle (1989)

Non-fiction (True Stories and Essays)

• Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen (1984)
• Rebecca West (1985)
• Sacred Cows: A Portrait of Britain, Post-Rushdie, Pre-Utopia (1989)
• Godless in Eden (1999)
• Auto da Fay (2002) – her autobiography about her early life.
• What Makes Women Happy (2006)
• Why Will No-One Publish My Novel? (2018)

Plays

Collections of Stories

• Watching Me, Watching You (1981)
• Polaris (1985)
• Moon Over Minneapolis (1991)
• Angel, All Innocence (1995)
• Wicked Women (1995)
• A Hard Time to Be a Father (1998)
• Nothing to Wear and Nowhere to Hide (2002)
• Poolside (2007)
• Great Escapes (2008)
• Fay Weldon Omnibus: Collected Works of Fay Weldon (2014)
• Mischief (2015)
• The Collected Novels Volume One (2018)
• The Collected Novels Volume Two (2018)
• The Collected Novels Volume Three (2018)

Short Stories and Novellas

• "Angel, All Innocence" (1977)
• "Weekend" (1978)
• "Spirit of the House" (1980)
• "Watching Me, Watching You" (1981)
• "Down the Clinical Disco" (1985)
• "A Good Sound Marriage" (1991)
• The Ted Dreams (2014) – a short novel

Television Series (Writer)

• Upstairs Downstairs (1971)
• Pride and Prejudice (1980)
• Heart of the Country (1987)
• Growing Rich (1992)
• Big Women (1998)

Images for kids

• 

  Weldon at the Copenhagen Book Fair in 2008

• 

  Appearing with Gerard Casey on the TV show After Dark in 1997

See also

In Spanish: Fay Weldon para niños