Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

, and picaresque works. She is best known for her book'' The Bloody Chamber'', which was published in 1979. In 2008, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' ranked Carter tenth in their list of "The 50 greatest

British writers British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

since 1945". In 2012, '' Nights at the Circus'' was selected as the best ever winner of the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

Biography

Born Angela Olive Stalker in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

, in 1940, to Sophia Olive (née Farthing; 1905–1969), a cashier at

Selfridge's Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

, and journalist Hugh Alexander Stalker (1896–1988), Carter was evacuated as a child to live in Yorkshire with her maternal grandmother. After attending Streatham and Clapham High School, in south London, she began work as a journalist on ''

The Croydon Advertiser ''The Croydon Advertiser'' (with locally branded editions) is a paid-for weekly newspaper with five editions covering the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and two neighbouring towns and with a free up-to-the-minute maintained web presence. Ci ...

'', following in her father's footsteps. Carter attended the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

where she studied English literature. She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter, divorcing in 1972. In 1969, she used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, where she claims in ''Nothing Sacred'' (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised". She wrote about her experiences there in articles for '' New Society'' and a collection of short stories, '' Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces'' (1974), and evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in '' The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' (1972). She then explored the United States, Asia and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer in residence at universities, including the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. In 1977, Carter met Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son and whom she married shortly before her death. In 1979, both '' The Bloody Chamber'', and her feminist essay, ''

The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography ''The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography'' is a 1978 non-fiction book by Angela Carter. The book is a feminist re-appraisal of the work of the Marquis de Sade, consisting of a collection of essays analyzing his literature, particularly ...

'', appeared. In the essay, according to the writer Marina Warner, Carter "deconstructs the arguments that underlie ''The Bloody Chamber''. It's about desire and its destruction, the self-immolation of women, how women collude and connive with their condition of enslavement. She was much more independent-minded than the traditional feminist of her time." As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', collected in ''Shaking a Leg''. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original radio dramas on Richard Dadd and

Ronald Firbank Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank (17 January 1886 – 21 May 1926) was an innovative English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with referen ...

. Two of her fictions have been adapted for film: '' The Company of Wolves'' (1984) and ''

The Magic Toyshop ''The Magic Toyshop'' (1967) is a British novel by Angela Carter. It follows the development of the heroine, Melanie, as she becomes aware of herself, her environment, and her own sexuality. Plot summary The novel starts with Melanie stealing ...

'' (1967). She was actively involved in both adaptations; her screenplays are published in the collected dramatic writings, '' The Curious Room'', together with her radio scripts, a libretto for an opera of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...

's '' Orlando: A Biography'', an unproduced screenplay entitled ''The Christchurch Murders'' (based on the same true story as

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's ''

Heavenly Creatures ''Heavenly Creatures'' is a 1994 New Zealand biographical psychological drama film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his partner, Fran Walsh, and starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in their feature film debut ...

'') and other works. These neglected works, as well as her controversial television documentary, ''

The Holy Family Album ''The Holy Family Album'' is a television documentary written and narrated by Angela Carter. It was directed by Jo Ann Kaplan and produced by John Ellis at Large Door Productions, London, UK. It was broadcast on the UK's Channel 4 on 3 December ...

'', are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, ''

Anagrams of Desire ''Anagrams of Desire'' is an academic textbook about Angela Carter's media writings. Written by Charlotte Crofts and published by Manchester University Press in 2003, the full title is ''Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter's Writing for Radio, Film ...

'' (2003). Her novel '' Nights at the Circus'' won the 1984

for literature. Her last novel, '' Wise Children'', is a surreal wild ride through British theatre and music hall traditions. Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

. At the time of her death, she had started work on a sequel to

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

's ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens; only a synopsis survives.

Works

Novels

*'' Shadow Dance'' (1966, also known as ''Honeybuzzard'') *''

'' (1967) *''

Several Perceptions ''Several Perceptions'' is a 1968 novel by the author Angela Carter. Her novels '' Shadow Dance'' (1966), ''Several Perceptions'' and ''Love'' (1971) are sometimes referred to as the "Bristol Trilogy". The title is from David Hume, 'The mind is ...

'' (1968) *'' Heroes and Villains'' (1969) *''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

'' (1971) *'' The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' (1972, also known as ''The War of Dreams'') *'' The Passion of New Eve'' (1977) *'' Nights at the Circus'' (1984) *'' Wise Children'' (1991)

Short fiction collections

*'' Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces'' (1974; also published as ''Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises'' and ''Fireworks'') *'' The Bloody Chamber'' (1979) *''The Bridegroom'' (1983) (Uncollected short story) *'' Black Venus'' (1985; published as ''Saints and Strangers'' in the United States) *'' American Ghosts and Old World Wonders'' (1993) *''

Burning Your Boats ''Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories'' (1995) is a posthumously-published collection of short stories by English writer Angela Carter. It includes stories previously collected in her other short story collections: '' Fireworks: Nine ...

'' (1995)

Poetry collections

*''Five Quiet Shouters'' (1966) *''Unicorn'' (1966) *''Unicorn: The Poetry of Angela Carter'' (2015)

Dramatic works

*''Come Unto These Yellow Sands: Four Radio Plays'' (1985) *'' The Curious Room: Plays, Film Scripts and an Opera'' (1996) (includes Carter's screenplays for adaptations of '' The Company of Wolves'' and ''

''; also includes the contents of ''Come Unto These Golden Sands: Four Radio Plays'')

Children's books

*'' The Donkey Prince'' (1970, illustrated by Eros Keith) *'' Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady'' (1970, illustrated by Eros Keith) *'' Comic and Curious Cats'' (1979, illustrated by Martin Leman) *''Moonshadow'' (1982) illustrated by Justin Todd *''Sea-Cat and Dragon King'' (2000, illustrated by Eva Tatcheva)

Non-fiction

*''

'' (1979) *''Nothing Sacred: Selected Writings'' (1982) *''Expletives Deleted: Selected Writings'' (1992) *''Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writing'' (1997) She wrote two entries in "A Hundred Things Japanese" published in 1975 by the Japan Culture Institute. It says "She has lived in Japan both from 1969 to 1971 and also during 1974" (p. 202).

As editor

*''Wayward Girls and Wicked Women: An Anthology of Subversive Stories'' (1986) *''The Virago Book of Fairy Tales'' (1990) a.k.a. ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'' *''The Second Virago Book of Fairy Tales'' (1992) a.k.a. ''Strange Things Still Sometimes Happen: Fairy Tales From Around the World'' (1993) *''Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales'' (2005) (collects the two Virago Books above)

As translator

*''The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault'' (1977) *''Sleeping Beauty and Other Favourite Fairy Tales'' (1982) illustrated by Michael Foreman ( Perrault stories with two by Leprince de Beaumont)

Film adaptations

*'' The Company of Wolves'' (1984) adapted by Carter with

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academ ...

from her

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

of the same name, " Wolf-Alice" and " The Werewolf" *''

'' (1987) adapted by Carter from her

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

of the same name, and directed by David Wheatley

Radio plays

*''Vampirella'' (1976) written by Carter and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC. Formed the basis for the short story " The Lady of the House of Love". *''Come Unto These Yellow Sands'' (1979) *''The Company of Wolves'' (1980) adapted by Carter from her

of the same name, and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC *''Puss-in-Boots'' (1982) adapted by Carter from her

and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC *''A Self-Made Man'' (1984)

Television

*''

'' (1991) *'' Omnibus: Angela Carter's Curious Room'' (1992)

Works on Angela Carter

:*Crofts, Charlotte, ''"Curiously downbeat hybrid" or "radical retelling"? – Neil Jordan’s and Angela Carter’s ''The Company of Wolves''.'' In Cartmell, Deborah, I. Q. Hunter, Heidi Kaye and Imelda Whelehan (eds), ''Sisterhoods Across the Literature Media Divide'', London: Pluto Press, 1998, pp. 48–63.] :*Crofts, Charlotte
''Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter's Writing for Radio, Film and Television''
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003. :*Crofts, Charlotte
''‘The Other of the Other’: Angela Carter's ‘New-Fangled’ Orientalism''
In Munford, Rebecca ''Re-Visiting Angela Carter Texts, Contexts, Intertexts.'' London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, pp. 87–109. :*Dimovitz, Scott A.
''Angela Carter: Surrealist, Psychologist, Moral Pornographer''
New York: Routledge, 2016. :*Dimovitz, Scott A. "I Was the Subject of the Sentence Written on the Mirror: Angela Carter's Short Fiction and the Unwriting of the Psychoanalytic Subject". ''Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory'' 21.1 (2010): 1–19. :*Dimovitz, Scott A., "Angela Carter’s Narrative Chiasmus: ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' and ''The Passion of New Eve''". ''Genre'' XVII (2009): 83–111. :*Dimovitz, Scott A., "Cartesian Nuts: Rewriting the Platonic Androgyne in Angela Carter's Japanese Surrealism". ''FEMSPEC: An Interdisciplinary Feminist Journal'', 6:2 (December 2005): 15–31. :*Dmytriieva, Valeriia V., "Gender Alterations in English and French Modernist 'Bluebeard' Fairytale". ''English Language and literature studies'', 6:3. (2016): 16–20. :* :*Gordon, Edmund
''The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography''
London: Chatto & Windus, 2016. :*Kérchy, Anna
''Body-Texts in the Novels of Angela Carter. Writing from a Corporeagraphic Perspective''

Lewiston, New York Lewiston is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 15,944 at the 2020 census. The town and its contained village are named after Morgan Lewis, a governor of New York. The Town of Lewiston is on the western bord ...

Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press or Mellen Press is an international independent company and academic publishing house with editorial offices in Lewiston, New York, and Lampeter, Wales. It was founded, in 1972, by the religious studies scholar Profess ...

, 2008. :*Milne, Andrew
''The Bloody Chamber d'Angela Carter''
Paris: Editions Le Manuscrit, Université, 2006. :*Milne, Andrew
''Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber: A Reader's Guide''
Paris: Editions Le Manuscrit Université, 2007. :*Munford, Rebecca (ed.)
''Re-Visiting Angela Carter Texts, Contexts, Intertexts''
London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. :*Tonkin, Maggie, ''Angela Carter and Decadence: Critical Fictions/Fictional Critiques''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. :*Topping, Angela
''Focus on The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories''
London: The Greenwich Exchange, 2009.

Commemoration

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

unveiled a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

at Carter's final home at 107, The Chase in Clapham, South London in September 2019. She wrote many of her books in the sixteen years she lived at the address, as well as tutoring the young

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most cr ...

. :In 2008, the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

acquired the Angela Carter Papers, a large collection of 224 files and volumes containing manuscripts, correspondence, personal diaries, photographs and audio cassettes.

References

External links

* *
Angela Carter's radio workAngela Carter
at the

*
BBC interview
(video, 25 June 1991, 25 mins) *

''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'', 3 May 2010 *
Angela Carter in conversation
with Elizabeth Jolley, British Library (audio, 1988, 53 mins)
Angela Carter essay
on

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

, ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review o ...

'', Vol. 2 No. 19 · 2 October 1980
"A Conversation with Angela Carter"
by Anna Katsavos, ''

The Review of Contemporary Fiction Dalkey Archive Press is an American publisher of fiction, poetry, foreign translations and literary criticism specializing in the publication or republication of lesser-known, often avant-garde works. The company has offices in Funks Grove, Il ...

'', Fall 1994, Vol. 14.3 {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Angela 1940 births 1992 deaths 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century translators Academics of the University of East Anglia Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Bristol British women short story writers Deaths from lung cancer in England English feminist writers English short story writers English socialist feminists English socialists English women novelists James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Magic realism writers People from Eastbourne Weird fiction writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers