Gwendoline Riley (born 1979) is an English writer.

Early life and education

Riley was born in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, in 1979. She attended

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

Career

Riley's first novel, ''Cold Water'', was named one of the five outstanding

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 ...

s of 2002 by ''

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 Gu ...

'' "Weekend" magazine and also won a

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

. ''Sick Notes'' followed in 2004 and ''Joshua Spassky'' in 2007. For ''Cold Water'' and ''Sick Notes'', the drama unfolds in Manchester, occasionally extending to different areas of Lancashire. ''Joshua Spassky'', however, is set in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

— the town where

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald a ...

died in a fire at the Highland Hospital. ''Joshua Spassky'' won the 2008

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

and was shortlisted for the 2007

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and publis ...

. Her fourth novel, ''Opposed Positions'', was published in May 2012. Her fifth, ''First Love'', was published in February 2017 and was shortlisted for the

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

, the

Gordon Burn Prize Gordon Burn (16 January 1948 – 17 July 2009) was an English writer born in Newcastle upon Tyne and the author of four novels and several works of non-fiction. Background Burn's novels deal with issues of modern fame and faded celebrity as l ...

, the

Goldsmiths Prize The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the ''New Statesman.'' It is awarded annually to a piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of ...

, the

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

and 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, Unit ...

. It won the

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Irish ...

. In June 2018 Riley was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature 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, th ...

in its "40 Under 40" initiative.

Bibliography

* ''Cold Water (novel)'' (2002) * '' Sick Notes'' (2004) * '' Tuesday Nights and Wednesday Mornings: A Novella and Stories'' (2004) * '' Joshua Spassky'' (2007) * '' Opposed Positions'' (2012) * ''

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

'' (2017) * '' My Phantoms'' (2021)

Awards and honours

* 2002

for ''Cold Water''. * 2007 shortlisted for the

, for ''Joshua Spassky''. * 2008

, for ''Joshua Spassky''. * 2017 shortlisted for the

, for ''First Love''. * 2017 shortlisted for the

, for ''First Love''. * 2017

, for ''First Love''. * 2022 shortlisted for the

Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...

, for ''My Phantoms''.

References

External links

'Dotpod' podcast interview from run-riot.com
* ttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/03/opposed-positions-gwendoline-riley-review Guardian review of ''Opposed Positions'', by Anne Enrightbr>Scotsman review of ''Opposed Positions'', by Stuart Kelly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Gwendoline 1979 births Living people 21st-century English novelists Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature