Alison Louise Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scottish writer, academic and stand-up comedian. She writes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and is known for her dark tone and her blending of

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

. She contributes columns and reviews to European newspapers.

Biography

Kennedy was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

to Edwardene Mildred, a teacher, and Robert Alan Kennedy, a psychology lecturer. Her parents divorced when she was 13. She attended the fee-paying

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

and went on to study for a BA Hons in

Theatre Studies Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychobiological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also e ...

and Dramatic Arts at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

. From 1987 to 1989, Kennedy was a community arts worker for Clydebank District Council. She then went on to a role as

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

for

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

Social Work Department from 1989 to 1991. Her work there won a special Social Work Today Award in 1990. From 1989 to 1995 she worked on Project Ability, a Glasgow-based visual arts organisation. In 1995 she was a part-time lecturer at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. In 2009, she donated the short story ''Vanish'' to Oxfam's

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 we ...

project, four collections of stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Air" collection. In 2016, her novel ''Serious Sweet'' was long-listed for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

. In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, she signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few." In 2020 she began contributing a column on her views of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

to the German daily paper ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

''. Kennedy currently lives in

Wivenhoe Wivenhoe ( ) is a town and civil parish in north-eastern Essex, England, approximately south-east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two ...

and has been an associate professor in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at the

since 2007, having previously taught creative writing at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

from 2003 to 2007. She has performed as a stand-up comedian at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and literary festivals. Her main comedy club has been

The Stand Comedy Club The Stand Comedy Club is a chain of three stand-up comedy venues in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle upon Tyne. History The Stand hosted its first regular club night on Thursday, 21 September 1995, in the small basement of W.J. C ...

in Edinburgh.

Awards and honours

*Scottish Arts Council Book Award four times *1993, 2003 Granta Best Young British Novelist *1991

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

Scottish First Book of the Year, ''Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains'' *1993 Edinburgh Fringe First, ''The Audition'' *1994

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

, ''Looking for the possible dance'' *1996

Encore Award The £10,000 Encore Award for the best second novel was first awarded in 1990. It is sponsored by Lucy Astor. The award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglecte ...

winner, ''So I Am Glad'' *2007 Saltire Society Book of the Year, ''Day'' *2007

Lannan Literary Award The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

for fiction *2007

Austrian State Prize for European Literature The Austrian State Prize for European Literature (german: Österreichischer Staatspreis für Europäische Literatur), also known in Austria as the European Literary Award (''Europäischer Literaturpreis''), is an Austria Austria, , bar, Ö ...

winner * 2007 Costa Book Awards Book of the Year, winner for ''

Day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

'' *2008 Internationale Eifel-Literatur-Preis *2014

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented bet ...

shortlist ''All the Rage'' *2016

Heinrich Heine Prize Heinrich Heine Prize refers to three different awards named in honour of the 19th-century German poet Christian Johann Heinrich Heine: * ''Heinrich Heine prize of Düsseldorf'' * ''Heinrich Heine prize of the Ministry for Culture'' of the former ...

Works

Novels

*''Looking for the Possible Dance'' (1993) *''So I Am Glad'' (1995) *''Everything You Need'' (1999) *''Paradise'' (2004) *''

'' (5 April 2007) *''The Blue Book'' (4 August 2011) *''Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse'' (14 July 2015) *''Serious Sweet'' (19 May 2016) *''The Little Snake'' (6 November 2018)

Short story collections

*''Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains'' (1990) *''Now That You're Back'' (1994) *''Tea and Biscuits'' (1996) *''Original Bliss'' (1997) *''Indelible Acts'' (2002) *''What Becomes'' (6 August 2009) *''All the Rage'' (2014) *''We Are Attempting To Survive Our Time'' (2020)

Non-fiction

*''Life & Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1997) *''On Bullfighting'' (1999) *''On Writing'' (2013) *’’Care of the Luwak’’ (2010)

Screenwriting

*''

Stella Does Tricks ''Stella Does Tricks'' is a 1996 British drama film about a young Glaswegian girl, played by Kelly Macdonald, working as a prostitute in London. The film was the first feature film directed by Coky Giedroyc, inspired by her previous work making ...

'' (1997) *''

Dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

'' (2001), with

John Burnside John Burnside FRSL FRSE (born 19 March 1955) is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets (the others being Ted Hughes and Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book (''Black Cat ...

Selected radio

*''Confessions of a Medium'' (2010), broadcast as the ''

Saturday Play ''Saturday Drama'' (formerly ''The Saturday Play'') is a regular feature on BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, 13 March 2010 and 1 March 2013 *''Happy Families'' (2011), broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 1 September 2011 *''Love Love Love Like The Beatles'' (2012), broadcast as the ''

Afternoon Drama ''Drama'' (formerly ''Afternoon Theatre'', ''Afternoon Drama,'' ''Afternoon Play'') is a BBC Radio 4 radio drama, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm. Generally each play is 45 minutes in duration and approximately 190 new plays are broadcast each ...

'' on BBC Radio 4, 26 June 2012 *''AA: America's Gift to the World'' (2014), broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 6 April 2015
''Subterranean Homesick Blues''
(beginning 2015), broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 14 September, 2015

References

External links

* *
A L Kennedy at the ''Guardian''BBC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, A. L. 1965 births 20th-century Scottish novelists 21st-century Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women writers Living people Academics of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Warwick Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners People from Dundee People educated at the High School of Dundee Scottish non-fiction writers Scottish women novelists Scottish short story writers British women short story writers 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers Writers from Dundee Scottish republicans