Nicholas William Richmond Shakespeare
FRSL
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...
(born 3 March 1957) is a British novelist and biographer, described by the ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' as "one of the best English novelists of our time".
Biography
Born in
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
, England to diplomat
John William Richmond Shakespeare and his wife Lalage Ann, daughter of the travel writer and journalist
S. P. B. Mais
Stuart Petre Brodie Mais (4 July 1885 – 21 April 1975), known publicly as S. P. B. Mais, was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He was an author of travel books and guides, and had an informal style that made him popular with the gen ...
, Shakespeare grew up in the Far East and in South America, including Brazil, where his father worked at the British Embassy between 1966 and 1969. John Shakespeare was later
chargé d'affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassado ...
at
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, before serving as
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...
to
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
from 1983 to 1987, and
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...
to
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
from 1987 to 1990. Nicholas was educated at the
Dragon School
("Reach for the Sun")
, established = 1877
, closed =
, type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Emma Goldsm ...
preparatory school in
Oxford
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 the ...
, then at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
and at
Magdalene College
Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mar ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. He worked as a journalist for
BBC television and then on ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' as assistant arts and literary editor. From 1988 to 1991, he was literary editor of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid ...
''.
Shakespeare's time in South America is represented in two novels, ''The Vision of Elena Silves'' (1989,
Somerset Maugham Award,
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 ...
) and ''
The Dancer Upstairs
''The Dancer Upstairs'' is a 1995 novel by Nicholas Shakespeare. It is based on the Maoist insurgency of the 1980s in Peru, and tells the story of Agustin Rejas, a police Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain), hunting a terrorist based on Abima ...
'' (1995, American Library Association Award for The Best Novel of the Year). Other works from this period are ''The Men Who Would Be King'' (1984), ''Londoners'' (1986) and ''The High Flyer'' (1993, long-listed for the
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. ...
).
In 1999, Shakespeare published his biography of
Bruce Chatwin
Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, ...
to widespread critical acclaim. This was followed by the novel ''Snowleg'' (2004, long-listed for the Booker Prize,
Dublin IMPAC Award
The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...
) a "place" book, ''In Tasmania'' (2004, winner of the
Tasmania Book Prize
The Tasmanian Premier's Literary Prizes are literary prizes that are awarded biennially in four categories by the Tasmanian Government. There are two panels of three judges: one for the book prizes, the other for the emerging writers and young w ...
2007), ''Secrets of the Sea'' (2007, short-listed for the Commonwealth Writer's prize) and ''Inheritance'' (2010, long-listed for Dublin IMPAC Award). In 2010, he published ''Under the Sun'', the letters of Bruce Chatwin, which he co-edited with Elizabeth Chatwin.
Nicholas Shakespeare has made several extended biographies for television: on
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...
,
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
, Bruce Chatwin,
Martha Gellhorn
Martha Ellis Gellhorn (8 November 1908 – 15 February 1998) was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century.
Gellhorn reported on virtually every major worl ...
, and
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as '' Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Org ...
. ''The Dancer Upstairs'' was made into a feature
film of the same name in 2002, for which Shakespeare wrote the screenplay and which
John Malkovich
John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
directed. Shakespeare was nominated 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 Best of British Young Novelists in 1993. He has written articles for ''Granta'', the ''
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review o ...
'', ''
The Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'' and ''
The Monthly
''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'', among other publications.
Shakespeare's novels, which have been translated into 22 languages, place ordinary people against a background of significant events, as with ''The Dancer Upstairs'', which deals with
Abimael Guzmán
Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso (; 3 December 1934 − 11 September 2021), also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Chairman Gonzalo ( es, Presidente Gonzalo), was a Peruvian Maoist revolutionary and guerrilla leader, considered a terrorist b ...
, leader of Peru's
Shining Path
The Shining Path ( es, Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a communist guerrilla group in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the Commu ...
; and ''Snowleg'', set partly during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
.
In 1999, Shakespeare was made a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...
.
In 2010 Shakespeare was invited by the Anglo-Argentine Society to give the prestigious Borges Lecture in London.
In January 2012, according to journalists, Nicholas Shakespeare's writings were mistakenly confused for
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's by French presidential candidate
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...
when he said: "Let me quote Shakespeare, 'they failed because they did not start with a dream'" ()
In 2013, Shakespeare published an account of his aunt, ''Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France''.
In 2015, Shakespeare published a collection of stories, ''Stories from Other Places''. The central novella, "Oddfellows", was based on the
Battle of Broken Hill
The Battle of Broken Hill was a fatal incident which took place in Australia near Broken Hill, New South Wales, on 1 January 1915. Two men shot dead four people and wounded seven more, before being killed by police and military officers. Thou ...
, a little-known jihadi attack in the Australian outback 100 years ago. On 1 January 1915, two Afghan camel drivers answered the Turkish sultan's call for a holy war against the British Empire, and attacked a picnic train of 1200 men women and children in the iron-ore town of Broken Hill, killing four. The incident was the only known act of hostility on Australian soil in World War One. ''The Sunday Telegraph'' described them as "honed miniatures" and the Australian critic Peter Craven in the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' wrote: "I do not expect to read a more formidable piece of short fiction this year."
In 2016, Shakespeare was a visiting fellow at
All Souls College, Oxford, where he wrote the historical narrative "Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister" (2017), about the disastrous Norway Campaign of April 1940, which led to Churchill's unanticipated accession on Friday 10 May. Shakespeare's account was nominated as a Book of the Year in ''The Economist'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Observer'', ''The Scotsman'', ''The Daily Telegraph'' (as No. 2 of "the Best 50 Books of 2017"), and ''The Australian'', where Peter Craven wrote: "Shakespeare has written a book that will captivate readers and fill professional historians with envy at how far he outclasses them."
Charity work
Shakespeare has worked with charities such as
Oxfam, for which he has written several times, and the Anita Goulden Trust, of which he has been the patron since 2000; the charity, which helps children in the Peruvian city of
Piura, was set up following an article that Shakespeare wrote for the ''Daily Telegraph'' magazine, which raised more than £350,000.
In 2009, Shakespeare donated the short story "The Death of Marat" 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. Shakespeare's contribution was published in the ''Earth'' collection. He also contributed a story, "The Return of the Native", to OxTravels, a travel anthology that was produced to raise money for Oxfam's work.
In October 2012, Shakespeare travelled to Cambodia with photographer Emma Hardy to visit Oxfam's work. He wrote two articles about the trip, "Beyond The Killing Fields", which was published in ''
Intelligent Life'', and "How The Dead Live", which was published in ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
''.
Works
* ''The Men Who Would Be King: A Look at Royalty in Exile'' (
Sidgwick & Jackson
Sidgwick & Jackson is an imprint of book publishing company Pan Macmillan. Formerly it was an independent publisher; as such it was founded in Britain in 1908. Its notable early authors include poet Rupert Brooke and novelist E.M. Forster. In mo ...
, 1984)
* ''Londoners'' (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1986)
* ''The Vision of Elena Silves'' (
Harvill, 1989)
* ''The High Flyer'' (Harvill, 1993)
* ''
The Dancer Upstairs
''The Dancer Upstairs'' is a 1995 novel by Nicholas Shakespeare. It is based on the Maoist insurgency of the 1980s in Peru, and tells the story of Agustin Rejas, a police Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain), hunting a terrorist based on Abima ...
'' (Harvill, 1995)
* ''Bruce Chatwin'' (Harvill, 1999)
* ''Snowleg'' (Harvill, 2004)
* ''In Tasmania: Adventures at the End of the World'' (Harvill, 2004)
* ''Secrets of the Sea'' (Harvill, 2007)
* ''Inheritance'' (Harvill, 2010)
* ''Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin'', selector and editor with Elizabeth Chatwin (
Cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
, 2010)
* ''
Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France'' (
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
, 2014)
* ''Oddfellows'' on the
Battle of Broken Hill
The Battle of Broken Hill was a fatal incident which took place in Australia near Broken Hill, New South Wales, on 1 January 1915. Two men shot dead four people and wounded seven more, before being killed by police and military officers. Thou ...
(
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
, 2015)
* ''Stories from Other Places'' (
Harvill Secker, 2016)
* ''Six Minutes in May. How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister'' (Harvill Secker, 2017)
* ''
The Sandpit'' (Harvill Secker, 2020)
References
External links
*
Profile British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
Bold Type magazine informationfrom
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
Fantastic Fiction entryNicholas Shakespeare at Random House Australia*
''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', Entertainment Blog, 12 August 2007.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare, Nicholas
1957 births
Living people
Writers from Worcester, England
People educated at The Dragon School
People educated at Winchester College
Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge
20th-century English novelists
21st-century English novelists
English male journalists
English television journalists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
English male novelists
20th-century English male writers
21st-century English male writers