Samantha Harvey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Samantha Harvey
Harvey in 2019
Born	1975 (age 49–50) Kent, England
Occupation	Novelist
Alma mater	Bath Spa University
Genre	Literary fiction
Years active	2008–present
Notable works	The Wilderness (2009) Orbital (2023)
Notable awards	Betty Trask Prize (2009) Booker Prize (2024)

Samantha Harvey, born in 1975, is a talented English writer. She writes novels that are enjoyed by many readers. In 2024, she won the famous Booker Prize for her book called Orbital. This book mixes different styles, like regular stories, science fiction, and even ideas from philosophy.

Growing Up and School

Samantha Harvey spent her early childhood in a place called Ditton, in England. After her parents separated, she moved around a lot with her mother. She lived in places like Ireland, York, Sheffield, and even Japan during her teenage years.

Samantha went to university to study philosophy. She attended both the University of York and the University of Sheffield. Later, she decided to focus on writing. In 2005, she finished a special writing course at Bath Spa University. She also earned a PhD in creative writing.

Her Writing Career

Harvey performing a headstand on stage at the 2014 Wigtown Book Festival

Samantha Harvey started her writing career in 2008. Her first novel, The Wilderness, came out in 2009. This book tells the story from the point of view of a man who is developing Alzheimer's disease. It shows how the disease affects his thoughts and memories.

Her second novel, All Is Song (2012), explores ideas about right and wrong. It also looks at how we choose between following rules or asking questions. Samantha Harvey has said this book is like a modern version of the life of Socrates, a famous ancient Greek philosopher.

In 2014, she published Dear Thief. This novel is written as a long letter from one woman to her friend. It talks about the feelings that come from a complicated love story. People say this book was inspired by the song "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen.

Her fourth novel, The Western Wind, was published in 2018. It is set in the 1400s and is about a priest in Somerset, England.

The Shapeless Unease is a non-fiction book she wrote. It describes her personal experience with severe insomnia, which is when someone has a lot of trouble sleeping.

Her 2023 novel, Orbital, won the important Booker Prize in 2024. This story takes place on a space station. It follows the events of just one day as the station orbits Earth. The famous writer Mark Haddon called it "one of the most beautiful novels I have read in a very long time."

Samantha Harvey has also written short stories. These stories have appeared in magazines like Granta and have been read on BBC Radio 4. She also writes reviews for newspapers like The Guardian and The New York Times. Her essays and articles have been published in many places, including The New Yorker and Time.

On stage with Petina Gappah and Lee Randall at the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival

Many of Samantha Harvey's novels have been considered for major awards. These include the Man Booker Prize, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 2010, a TV show called The Culture Show named her one of the 12 best new British novelists. In 2019, her book The Western Wind won the Staunch Book Prize.

Her books are published by Jonathan Cape in the UK and Grove Atlantic in the US.

Samantha Harvey also helps other writers. She teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University. She is also part of the academy for the Rathbones Folio Prize. As of 2023, she was helping new writers through the Rathbones Folio Mentorships program. She has also been a judge for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize. She has spent time at special writing places like MacDowell in the US and Hawthornden in Scotland.

She often teaches writing courses for the Arvon Foundation. She also runs yearly writing courses in Spain with another author, Emma Hooper.

Awards and Recognition

Samantha Harvey's writing style has been compared to that of Virginia Woolf, another very famous author.

Prizes and Nominations

Samantha Harvey has won several awards and been nominated for many others. Here are some of them:

Books in Other Languages

Samantha Harvey's novels have been translated into many different languages. These include Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Romanian. This means her stories can be read by people all over the world!

See also

In Spanish: Samantha Harvey para niños