Lawrence Norfolk (born 1963) is a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

known for historical works with complex plots and intricate detail.

Biography

Though 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 ...

, Norfolk lived in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

until 1967 and then in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

of England. He read English at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and graduated in 1986. He worked briefly as a teacher and later as a freelance writer for reference-book publishers. In 1992 he won the

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 ...

for his first novel, ''Lemprière's Dictionary'', about events surrounding the publication, in 1788, of

John Lemprière John Lemprière (c. 1765, Jersey – 1 February 1824, London) was an English classical scholar, lexicographer, theologian, teacher and headmaster. Life John Lemprière was the son of Charles Lemprière (died 1801), of Mont au Prêtre, Jersey. ...

's ''Bibliotheca Classica'' on classical mythology and history. The novel starts out as a detective story and mixes historical elements with

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

-style fiction. Note David Horton's article on the German translation of Norfolk's ''Lempriere'': It imagines the writing of Lemprière's dictionary as tied to the founding of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and the

Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Pr ...

generations before; it also visits the Austro-Turkish War. Norfolk based his second novel, ''The Pope's Rhinoceros'', on the story of an actual animal; see

Dürer's Rhinoceros ''Dürer's Rhinoceros'' is the name commonly given to a woodcut executed by German artist Albrecht Dürer in 1515. Dürer never saw the actual rhinoceros which was the first living example seen in Europe since Roman times. Instead the image is ...

. Themes in the work include the lost city of

Vineta Vineta (sometimes ''Wineta'') is the name of a mythical city at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The myth evolved around the tradition about the medieval emporium called Jumne, Jomsborg (with which Vineta is sometimes identified), Julin or s ...

in the Baltic, the sack of

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

, and the

Benin bronze The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. Collectively, the objects form the best examples of Benin art and were cr ...

-making culture on the

river Niger The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, ...

. The third novel, ''In the Shape of a Boar'', juxtaposes the flight of a

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

Jew in World War II with the legend of

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

Calydon Calydon (; grc, Καλυδών, ) was a Greek city in ancient Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus, 7.5 Roman miles (approx. 11 km) from the sea. Its name is most famous today for the Calydonian boar that had to be ov ...

Literary works

* ''Lemprière's Dictionary'' (1991) * ''The Pope's Rhinoceros'' (1996) * ''In the Shape of a Boar'' (2000) * ''John Saturnall's Feast'' (2012)

References

1963 births Living people 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists Alumni of King's College London Associates of King's College Postmodern writers British male novelists 20th-century British male writers 21st-century British male writers {{UK-novelist-stub