Helen Simpson (born 1957) is an English novelist and short story writer.

Early life and education

She was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, in the West of England, and grew up first in

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

then in a suburb of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

where she went to a girls' school. Her mother was a primary-school teacher and her father was a naval architect who later taught. The first from her family to go to university, she read English at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

where she wrote a thesis on Restoration farce.

Career

She worked at ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' for five years before her success in writing short stories meant she could afford to leave and concentrate full-time on her writing. Her first collection, ''Four Bare Legs in a Bed and Other Stories'', 1990, won the Somerset Maugham Award and the

Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award The Sunday Times / University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year award is a literary prize awarded to a British author under the age of 35 for a published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. It is administered by the Society of Authors and ha ...

, and was followed by a second collection, ''Dear George'', in 1995. ''Hey Yeah Right Get A Life'', 2000, a series of interlinked stories, won the

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written ...

, and was renamed ''Getting a Life'' for its US publication. She was awarded the E.M. Forster Award in 2002 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her most recent story collections are: ''Constitutional'' (2005), renamed ''In the Driver's Seat'' for its US publication; ''In-Flight Entertainment'' (2010); and ''Cockfosters'' (2015). ''A Bunch of Fives: Selected Stories'' was published in 2012. In 1993, she was selected as one of

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

's top 20 novelists under the age of 40. In 2007, she published ''

Homework Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside the classroom. Common homework assignments may include required reading, a writing or typing project, mathematical exercises to be completed, informatio ...

'' short story. In 2009, she donated the short story ''The Tipping Point'' to Oxfam's '

Ox-Tales Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The Ox-Tales books w ...

' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Air' collection. She was a writer-in-residence for the charity

First Story First Story is an English non-profit organisation that encourages young people to write creatively, outside the curriculum, for self-expression, pleasure and agency. Its stated mission is to empower young people from low-income communities to find ...

. Many of her stories have been broadcast on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

, including ''Café Society'' and ''Hurrah for the Hols'' read by

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...

and abridged and produced by Amber Barnfather.''Helen Simpson - A Bunch of Fives'' - BBC Radio 4 Extra - August 2012
/ref> In 2011, she was awarded a PEN/O.Henry Prize for her story "Diary of an Interesting Year". She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

References

Sources

*Mslexia—Issue 35 *Short Fiction in Theory and Practice Volume 1 Number 1

External links

Official websiteBiography
at Contemporary Writers
Helen Simpson
at BBC World Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Helen 1959 births Living people English short story writers Writers from Bristol Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers British women short story writers English women novelists 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers