Fiona Mozley (born 1988)''Vogue'' interview, 16 October 201 Retrieved 24 May 2018. /ref> is an English novelist and
medievalist
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
. Her
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
, ''
Elmet
Elmet ( cy, Elfed), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic kingdom between about the 5th century and early 7th century, in what later became the smaller area of the West Riding of Yorkshire then West Yorkshire, South Yorkshir ...
'', was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker prize.
Life and literature
Fiona Mozley was born in 1988 in the
London Borough of Hackney
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and now lives in Edinburgh. She used to live in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, where she grew up and attended
Fulford School
Fulford School is a coeducational comprehensive school on Fulfordgate near Heslington Lane in Fulford, York, England.
History
Fulford School was founded in 1963 and has been a comprehensive school since 1970. The site is close to the former ...
. In the meantime she spent periods in London, Cambridge and Buenos Aires before moving back to York in 2013. Besides writing fiction, she is engaged on a PhD thesis at the
University of York
, mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £8.0 million
, budget = £403.6 million
, chancellor = Heather Melville
, vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery
, students ...
on the concept of decay in the later Middle Ages. She also works part-time in a bookshop.
Mozley sees as York's most significant literature its
Mystery Plays
Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represen ...
. These along with local drama groups she views "as having influenced my own writing more significantly than any books I have read."Statement in ''The Guardian'', 27 January 201 Retrieved 24 May 2018. /ref> When asked at an earlier interview about writers and works she particularly enjoyed, she mentioned some by
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...
and
Ursula Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was f ...
, and by
Philip Pullman
Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
, whom she had loved as a child. She stated in October 2017 that she was working on a second novel. This novel, ''Hot Stew'', was due to be published in early 2021. Mozley's novel ''Elmet'' appeared in the 2018
Irish Leaving Certificate
The Leaving Certificate Examination ('' ga, Scrúdú na hArdteistiméireachta''), commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert or (informally) the Leaving ('' ga, Ardteist , links=no''), is the final exam of the Irish secondary school system and th ...
English examination.
Work
The name "
Elmet
Elmet ( cy, Elfed), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic kingdom between about the 5th century and early 7th century, in what later became the smaller area of the West Riding of Yorkshire then West Yorkshire, South Yorkshir ...
" is taken from a Celtic kingdom that once covered West Yorkshire. In the novel, Mozley "wanted to capture the ambiguity of local historical recollections; to say something about their double-edged thrall; to examine the desire to live in the past and the need to extricate oneself from it."
The novel ''Elmet'' is concerned strongly with the idea of home, "the building of a house, the preparation of food; stolen glimpses of a woman's wardrobe."J. Robert Lennon: "Scary Dad", ''London Review of Books'', 10 May 2018, pp. 35–37. This moves stealthily onto the fact that the 14-year-old narrator, Daniel, is not just domesticated, but must come to terms with being gay, or even transgender, while his older sister Cathy is a tomboy "raised in isolation by a man poorly suited to the job, and taught skills typically taken up by boys." "Daddy" is kind to his two children, but otherwise known to be violent. The father's concern is for the land: "the wilderness tamed by man's benevolent but dictatorial hand...
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
provides fertile ground for the evil that men do."