British Council Arts
 British Council Arts
 British Council Arts
 
 Contemporary Writers
 Contemporary Writers
 Contemporary Writers
Home About this site Author index Awards and prizes News Events
 *
 Click here to visit enCompassCulture.com
 *

Search entire site

Perform search

 


 

Search authors

Author name

Gender m f
Nationality

Genre

Book title

Publisher

Perform search

 Join the mailing list.
 *

Lucy English

Lucy English


Back | Genres | Bibliography | Author statement | Further reading on this site | Contact details | Related links | Printer-friendly version

 

 *
 *
 *
 *

Photo: © Dory English

 *

Biography

Lucy English was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in England. She studied English and American Literature at the University of East Anglia, and later obtained an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. 

 

She has published three novels: Selfish People (1998), set in contemporary Bristol; Children of Light (1999); and Our Dancing Days (2000), set in a Suffolk commune in the 1970s.

 

She is best known as a performance poet, first winning the Bristol Poetry Slam in 1996, and going on to tour worldwide, performing her poetry at several international festivals including the Austin International Poetry Festival, and Wordfest, at Calgary in Canada. Her poetry has also been published in a variety of anthologies.

 

In 2003 she co-ordinated the International Conference in the writing and practice of performance poetry at Bath Spa University, and in 2006 was artistic director of Apples and Snakes Poetry Tour, Exposed. In 2007, she was a finalist in the first BBC Radio 4 Poetry Slam.

 

Lucy English is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University College, and will be Royal Literature Fellow at the University of Cardiff Institute during 2007-08.

 

 

 Top of page  * Top of page

 

Genres (in alphabetical order)

Fiction, Poetry

 

 

Bibliography

Selfish People   Fourth Estate, 1998

Children of Light   Fourth Estate, 1999

Our Dancing Days   Fourth Estate, 2000

City: Bristol Today in Poetry and Pictures   (contributor)   Paralalia, 2004

 

 Top of page  * Top of page

 

Author statement

I write because I love making up stories. Even when I was a child I made up stories. All my dolls had histories and were related to each other in some way. For me, being a writer is a grown-up, acceptable way of playing with dolls. I have also found that writing is less well-behaved than dolls, and writing doesn’t do what it is told and is often completely disobedient. This is a good thing.  Writing is me acknowledging my inner chaos and exploring it. The result is organised but the process isn’t. I like that.

 

 

 Top of page  * Top of page

 

Further reading on this site

New authors on site for December 2007
New authors and storytellers on Contemporary Writers for the month of November and December are: Cat Weatherill Mohsin Hamid Ben Haggarty Lucy English Zo e Skoulding more...   (15/01/2008)

 

 

 Top of page  * Top of page

 

Contact information

Publisher (General enquiries)
Fourth Estate
HarperCollins Publishers
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London  W6 8JB
England
Tel: +44 (0)20 8741 7070
Fax: +44 (0)20 8307 4440
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk

Agent
Teresa Chris Literary Agency
43 Mustard Road
London  W6 8NR
England
Tel: +44 (0)20 7386 0633

 Top of page  * Top of page

 

Related links

*
http:/ / www.lucyenglish.com

 

 Top of page  * Top of page

 *
 *  *
 *  *
 *
The British Council is registered in England as a charity. Our privacy statement. Our Freedom of Information Publications Scheme.
 *
 *  *  *
Home page About this site Author index British Council Literature Contact us
© British Council
 *  *  *
 *  *  *
 *
 *
 * Developed and hosted by Artlogic Media Ltd London.  *
 *