Graham Colin Swift
FRSL
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...
(born 4 May 1949) is a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
writer. Born in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
UK, he was educated at
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...
,
Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the
University of York
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
.
Career
Some of Swift's books have been filmed, including ''
Waterland
Waterland () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is situated north of Amsterdam, on the western shore of the Markermeer. It includes t ...
'' (1992), ''
Shuttlecock
A shuttlecock (also called a birdie or shuttle, or ball) is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape formed by feathers or plastic (or a synthetic alternative) embedded into a rounded cork (or ru ...
'' (1993), ''
Last Orders'' (1996) and ''
Mothering Sunday'' (2021). His novel ''
Last Orders'' was joint-winner of the 1996
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction and a controversial winner of the 1996
Booker Prize, owing to the many similarities in plot and structure to
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
's ''
As I Lay Dying''.
The prize-winning
''Waterland'' (1983) is set in
The Fens
The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...
. A novel of landscape, history and family, it is often cited as one of the outstanding post-war British novels and has been a set text on the English literature syllabus in British schools. Writer
Patrick McGrath asked Swift about the "feeling for magic" in ''Waterland'' during an interview. Swift responded that "The phrase everybody comes up with is ''magic realism'', which I think has now become a little tired. But on the other hand there’s no doubt that English writers of my generation have been very much influenced by writers from outside who in one way or another have got this magical, surreal quality, such as
Borges,
Márquez,
Grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
, and that that has been stimulating. I think in general it’s been a good thing. Because we are, as ever, terribly parochial, self-absorbed and isolated, culturally, in this country. It’s about time we began to absorb things from outside."
Swift was acquainted with
Ted Hughes and has himself published poetry, some of which is included in ''Making an Elephant: Writing from Within'' (2009).
List of works
Novels
*''
The Sweet-Shop Owner'' (1980)
*''
Shuttlecock
A shuttlecock (also called a birdie or shuttle, or ball) is a high-drag projectile used in the sport of badminton. It has an open conical shape formed by feathers or plastic (or a synthetic alternative) embedded into a rounded cork (or ru ...
'' (1981) – winner of the 1983
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
*''
Waterland
Waterland () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is situated north of Amsterdam, on the western shore of the Markermeer. It includes t ...
'' (1983) – shortlisted for
Booker Prize
*''
Out of this World'' (1988)
*''
Ever After'' (1992)
*''
Last Orders'' (1996) – winner of the
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
Booker Prize
*''
The Light of Day'' (
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
) – long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.
*''
Tomorrow'' (2007)
*''
Wish You Were Here'' (2011)
*''
Mothering Sunday'' (2016)
*''
Here We Are'' (2020)
Nonfiction
*''Making an Elephant: Writing from Within'' (2009)
Short story collections
*''
Learning to Swim and Other Stories'' (1982)
*''
England and Other Stories'' (2014)
*''Twelve Post-War Tales'' (2025)
Short stories
*
*
"Hinges" ''The New Yorker''. 14 November 2022.
*
Adaptations
''Waterland'' was adapted into a
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
of the same name in 1992. The film was directed by
Stephen Gyllenhaal
Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal ( , ; born October 4, 1949) is an American film director and poet. He is the father of actors Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Early life
Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Virginia Lowrie (née Childs ...
and starred
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...
,
Jeremy Irons, and
Sinéad Cusack.
Swift's novel ''
Mothering Sunday'' was adapted into
a film in 2021, starring
Olivia Colman and
Colin Firth and featuring
Glenda Jackson.
imdb
retrieved 8/10/2022.
References
External links
2007 audio interview with Graham Swift on the topic of 'The Light of Day'
conducted by John Mullan
The Papers of Graham Swift
at the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
Supplementary Graham Swift papers
at the British Library
Graham Swift on Last Orders, 25 years on: 'I wasn't born a writer - I had to become one'
''The Guardian'', John O'Mahony on the unassuming Booker prizewinner who specialises in the heroism of drab lives
''The Guardian'', Interview 'How did I end up becoming a novelist?'
The Fiction of Graham Swift - 2002 Thesis by Anastasia Logotheti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Graham
1949 births
Living people
20th-century British short story writers
20th-century English male writers
20th-century English novelists
21st-century British short story writers
21st-century English male writers
21st-century English novelists
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Alumni of the University of York
Booker Prize winners
English male novelists
English male short story writers
English short story writers
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients
The New Yorker people
People educated at Dulwich College
British postmodern writers
Writers from London