Marina Lewycka ( ; born 12 October 1946) is a British novelist of
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
origin.
Early life
Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Her family subsequently moved to England; she now lives in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, South Yorkshire. She attended
Gainsborough High School for Girls in
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Gainsborough is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town population was 20,842 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 23,243 in 2019. It lies on the east bank of the River Trent ...
, then
Witney Grammar School in
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
. She graduated from
Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
in 1968 with a
BA in English and Philosophy, and from the
University of York
, mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £8.0 million
, budget = £403.6 million
, chancellor = Heather Melville
, vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery
, students ...
with a
BPhil
Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's d ...
in English Literature in 1969. She began, but did not complete, a PhD 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 ...
.
Career
She was a lecturer in
media studies
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...
at
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...
until her retirement in March 2012.
Works
Lewycka's debut novel ''
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
''A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian'' is a humorous novel by Marina Lewycka, first published in 2005 by Viking (Penguin Books).
The novel won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize at the Hay literary festival, the Waverton Good Read Awa ...
'' won the 2005
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' an ...
for comic writing at the
Hay literary festival
The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, t ...
, the 2005/6
Waverton Good Read Award
The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 by villagers in Waverton, Cheshire, Waverton, Chester, England, and is based on ''Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur'', a literary prize awarded by a Provence, Provençal village. Adult debut novels writ ...
, and the 2005 Saga Award for Wit;
it was long-listed for the 2005
Man Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
and short-listed for the 2005
Orange 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 novel has been translated into 35 languages.
Her second novel ''
Two Caravans'' was published in hardback in March 2007 by Fig Tree (an imprint of
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...]
for political writing. In the United States and Canada it is published under the title ''
Strawberry Fields''.
Lewycka's third novel, ''
We Are All Made of Glue'', was released in July 2009, and her fourth novel, ''Various Pets Alive and Dead'', came out in March 2012.
0Her fifth novel, published in 2016, was ''The Lubetkin Legacy'', named after
Berthold Lubetkin
Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architecture, architect who pioneered International style (architecture), modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint I, Hi ...
, the Georgian-born modernist architect, who built popular housing with the slogan: "Nothing is too good for ordinary people". ''The Lubetkin Legacy'' was shortlisted for the Bollinger Woodhouse Everyman for Comic Fiction prize.
In 2009 Lewycka donated the short story "The Importance of Having Warm Feet" 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 we ...
'' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Earth' collection.
Oxfam: Ox-Tales
Later the same year, she donated a second short story, "Business Philosophy", to the Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
anthology ''Freedom: Short Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights''.
In 2020, Lewycka released the novel ''The Good, the Bad and the Little Bit Stupid''. A review of the book in The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
noted that its commentary on Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
and organ trafficking
Organ trade (also known as Red market) is the trading of human organs, tissues, or other body products, usually for transplantation.(Carney, Scott. 2011. "The Red Market." Wired 19, no. 2: 112–1. Internet and Personal Computing Abstracts.) Accor ...
"seem not so much disparate as random".
In addition to her fiction, Lewycka has written a number of books giving practical advice for carers of elderly people, published by the charity Age Concern
Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of Charitable organization, charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four cou ...
.
References
External links
* with complete bibliography, list of awards and critical perspective
In depth biographical article
at ''Derbyshire Life'' magazine website
Interview by Stephen Moss, ''The Guardian'', 31 May 2007. Retrieved on 31 May 2007
Three Monkeys Interview
Debut Novelist Takes Comic Prize
about her winning the Bollinger for ''A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian''
Review of ''A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian''
Guardian, 19 March 2005
Review of ''Two Caravans''
TimesOnLine, 25 March 2007
Interview in the ''Guardian''
15 July 2008
Marina Lewycka talks about ''We are all Made of Glue''
on The Interview Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewycka, Marina
1946 births
Living people
Academics of Sheffield Hallam University
Alumni of Keele University
Alumni of King's College London
Alumni of the University of York
21st-century English novelists
English people of Ukrainian descent
People educated at Queen Elizabeth's High School
Writers from Sheffield
Ukrainian women writers
Ukrainian emigrants to the United Kingdom
21st-century English women writers