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Ali Smith
Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 August 1962 to Ann and Donald Smith. Her parents were working-class and she was raised in a council house in Inverness. From 1967 to 1974 she attended St. Joseph's RC Primary school, then went on to Inverness High School, leaving in 1980. She studied a joint degree in English language and literature at the University of Aberdeen from 1980 to 1985, coming first in her class in 1982 and gaining a top first in Senior Honours English in 1984. She won the University's Bobby Aitken Memorial Prize for Poetry in 1984. From 1985 to 1990 she attended Newnham College, Cambridge, studying for a PhD in American and Irish modernism. During her time at Cambridge, she began writing plays and as a result did not complete her doctorate. Smith moved to Edin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire (later Commonwealth) and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name "Footlights" was chosen, the group had performed to local audiences in the Cambridge area (once, with a cricket match included, at the "pauper lunatic asylum"). They wished to go wider than the University Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC), founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College, and its theatre seating only 100. They were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, Barnwell, Cambridge, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the club's appeal to the "general public, the many different classes of which life in Cambridge is made up". The club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and established ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotel World
''Hotel World'' is a postmodern novel, influenced by modernist novels, written by Ali Smith. The novel portrays the stages of grief in relation to the passage of time. It won both the Scottish Arts Council Book Award (2001) and the Encore Award (2002). Plot introduction There are five characters, two relatives, three strangers, but all female. There is a homeless woman, a hotel receptionist, a hotel critic, the ghost of a hotel chambermaid, and the ghost's sister. These women tell a story, and it is through this story that unbeknownst to them their lives and fates intersect. The catalyst of their story is the Global Hotel. Explanation of the novel's title The title of Ali Smith's novel ''Hotel World'' is a metaphor for life's passage through time, and the moments which escape us all too quickly. Every hour of every day, a hotel somewhere is checking in a new guest, or “life”, just as quickly as one is checking out. In titling her novel ''Hotel World'', Smith not only refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Like (novel)
''Like'' is the debut novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published in 1997 in the UK by Virago and in the following year in the US by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it draws much from Ali Smith's own life growing up in Inverness and then moving to Cambridge as a student. Plot introduction The novel is told in two parts: the first is set in present-day Scotland where Amy Shone, a seemingly itinerant and illiterate drifter has just found work as the caretaker of a caravan site and camping ground. She lives with her nearly eight-year-old daughter, Kate, and their patchwork lives are thrown into relief with glimpses of Amy's more glamorous past, when she was a Cambridge scholar. When a random phone call for an interview brings mention of her one-time friendship with a young actress named Aisling (Ash) McCarthy, the mysteries of Amy's unraveled life begin to settle. The second half of the book is a journal, written by Amy's old friend and actress, Aisling McCarthy, found in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Library And Other Stories
''Public Library and Other Stories'' is a short story collection by Scottish author Ali Smith, published in 2015. The fourth story in the collection, "The Beholder", was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award. It contains 12 stories punctuated by reflections on libraries, "about their history, their importance and the recent spate of closures". Stories *:' just off Covent Garden, which is no longer a library *"Last" - The narrator spots a wheelchair-user trapped in a railway carriage after it has been parked in the sidings for the day and with various etymological asides, comes to her rescue. *:''that beautiful new build'' - Ali Smith's partner Sarah Wood tells of her childhood experiences of the local library. *"Good voice"online text A woman in Inverness talks to her dead father about the World Wars, with reference to a 1917 photograph of executions, recordings made of British accents by a German linguist in a World War I POW camp, and a book of World War I poetry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The First Person And Other Stories
''The First Person and Other Stories'' is a short story collection by Scottish Booker-shortlisted author Ali Smith, first published in 2008. It contains 12 stories :- #"True Short Story" - A discussion between two men in a cafe discussing the relative merits of novels and short stories is overheard. The narrator (named Ali) rings a friend and continues the argument quoting the views of various authors and the story of Echo and Narcissus from Greek mythology. #"The Child"online text - A beautiful baby appears in the narrators shopping trolley; seemingly innocent it turns out to be a foul-mouthed misogynist. #"Present"online textfrom ''The Times'' 24 Dec 2005) - A disjointed conversation between a barmaid, a man at the bar and the narrator #"The Third Person" - which describes differing 'beguiling scenarios' for a relationship #"Fidelio and Bess" - Beethoven's opera ''Fidelio'' and George Gershwin's ''Porgy and Bess'' are blended together to describe an apparently doomed love affai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Whole Story And Other Stories
''The Whole Story and Other Stories'' is a short story collection by Scottish Booker-shortlisted author Ali Smith, first published in 2003 by Hamish Hamilton. It contains twelve stories :- #"The Universal Story" : A man buys up every copy of ''The Great Gatsby'' in a second-hand bookshop. The narrative focus switches between the proprietor, a 1974 Penguin edition of the book, a fly landing on it, and the man, who it transpires is buying every copy of the book he can find for his sister, who is constructing a boat out of them financed by an Arts Council grant... #"Gothic" : Gives an insight into the life of a bookshop clerk and the eccentricities of the customers and how she deals with them. #"Being Quick" : A traveller returning home sees Death on the concourse of King's Cross station; later, a fatality on the line delays the train and the traveller decides to walk the remainder of the journey but cannot phone home as her mobile phone has died... #"May": A woman falls hopelessly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ox-Tales
Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The Ox-Tales books were published in partnership with Green ProfileGreen Profile to raise revenue for projects tackling around the world. Oxfam receives a percentage of the cover price of each book sold (£3.50 per book if bought directly from an Oxfam shop or Oxfam's website and 50p if the books are purchased through other retailers). Themes The them ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication in 1914. Many distinguished writers have contributed, including T. S. Eliot, Henry James and Virginia Woolf. Reviews were normally anonymous until 1974, when signed reviews were gradually introduced during the editorship of John Gross. This aroused great controversy. "Anonymity had once been appropriate when it was a general rule at other publications, but it had ceased to be so", Gross said. "In addition I personally felt that reviewers ought to take responsibility for their opinions." Martin Amis was a member of the editorial staff early in his career. Philip Larkin's poem "Aubade", his final poetic work, was first published in the Christmas-week issue of the ''TLS'' in 1977. While it has long been regarded as one of the world's pre-em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members of the socialist Fabian Society, such as George Bernard Shaw, who was a founding director. Today, the magazine is a print–digital hybrid. According to its present self-description, it has a liberal and progressive political position. Jason Cowley, the magazine's editor, has described the ''New Statesman'' as a publication "of the left, for the left" but also as "a political and literary magazine" with "sceptical" politics. The magazine was founded by members of the Fabian Society as a weekly review of politics and literature. The longest-serving editor was Kingsley Martin (1930–1960), and the current editor is Jason Cowley, who assumed the post in 2008. The magazine has recognised and published new writers and critics, as well as e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards
The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards, formerly known as the Scottish Arts Council Book Awards, were a series of literary awards in Scotland that ran from 1972 to 2013. Organised by Creative Scotland (formerly the Scottish Arts Council), and sponsored by the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. There were four categories: fiction; poetry; literary non-fiction; and first books. The winners in each category were selected by a panel of judges, and a public vote decided the overall winner of the Book of the Year award. The category winners received £5,000 each, with the Book of the Year winner receiving a further £25,000. Book of the Year winners *1994 Andrew Cowan, ''Pig'' *1995 Ali Smith, '' Free Love and Other Stories'' *2001 Ali Smith, ''Hotel World'' *2004 James Robertson, '' Joseph Knight'' *2005 Kathleen Jamie, ''The Tree House'' *2006 James Meek, ''The People's Act of Love'' *2007 Kirsty Gunn, ''The Boy and the Sea'' *2008 Edwin Morgan, ''A Book of Lives'' *200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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