Anna Smaill (born April 1979) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

poet and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, and a former

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/composers, ...

Early life and education

Smaill was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1979. She started playing the violin aged seven. She studied musical performance at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

in the late 1990s and during her time at Canterbury, she decided to not become a professional violinist, but pursue a career in writing instead. She began studying English and music theory, before changing to the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, from where she graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in English. She spent the following year in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, graduating with a masters in creative writing from the

International Institute of Modern Letters The International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) ( mi, Te Pūtahi Tuhi Auaha o te Ao) is a centre of creative writing based within Victoria University of Wellington. Founded in 2001, the IIML offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses (i ...

. She lived in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan, from 2004 to 2006. Smaill started a PhD in contemporary American poetry at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in the United Kingdom, and finished it after returning to live in Wellington in 2013. She was a lecturer in creative writing at the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

from 2009 to 2012.

Writing

Smaill was included in the

Best New Zealand Poems series ''Ōrongohau , Best New Zealand Poems'' is an annual online anthology of poems chosen by guest editors. The anthology began in 2001 and is published by the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington in New ...

in 2002 and 2005. Her first collection of poetry, ''The Violinist in Spring'', was published in 2006. Her first novel, ''The Chimes'', was published in 2015 and was longlisted for the

2015 Man Booker Prize The 2015 Booker Prize for Fiction was awarded at a ceremony on 13 October 2015. A longlist of thirteen titles was announced on 29 July, narrowed down to a shortlist of six titles on 15 September. Judging panel * Michael Wood (Chair) * Ellah Wakatam ...

, but did not make the shortlist. She had been unaware that her publisher had submitted ''The Chimes'' for the award. ''The Chimes'' was awarded the

World Fantasy Award for Best Novel In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in October 2016. Smaill writes her work in longhand before typing it up. The collection of poems and her debut novel are the only two books published by Smaill so far; as of 2015, she had started writing a second novel.

Family

Smaill met the novelist Carl Shuker while studying at Victoria University. They married in 2010 and have one daughter.

References

External links

Official website

New Zealand Book Council website: author profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smaill, Anna Living people 1979 births People from Auckland New Zealand poets New Zealand women novelists World Fantasy Award-winning writers University of Auckland alumni International Institute of Modern Letters alumni Alumni of University College London Academics of the University of Hertfordshire