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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