Paul Bailey

FRSL 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 ...

(born 16 February 1937) is a British novelist and critic, as well as a biographer of

Cynthia Payne Cynthia Diane Payne (née Paine; 24 December 193215 November 2015) was an English brothel keeper and party hostess who made headlines in the 1970s and 1980s, when she was convicted of running a brothel at 32 Ambleside Avenue, in Streatham, a s ...

and

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

Biography

Paul Bailey attended

Sir Walter St John's Grammar School For Boys Sir Walter St John's was founded in 1700 for twenty boys of the village of Battersea. As the population and the English educational system changed, so did the school. The school was colloquially known as "Sinjuns" and was finally closed in 1986-7. ...

in Battersea, London. He won a scholarship to the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

in 1953 and worked as an actor between 1956 and 1964. He became a freelance writer in 1967. He was appointed Literary Fellow at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and Durham Universities (1972–74), and was awarded a Bicentennial Fellowship in 1976, enabling him to travel to the US, where he was Visiting Lecturer in English Literature at the

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

(1977–79). He was awarded the

E. M. Forster Award The E. M. Forster Award is a $20,000 award given annually to an Irish or British writer to fund a period of travel in the United States. The award, named after the English novelist E. M. Forster, is administered by the American Academy of Arts and L ...

in 1974 and in 1978 he won the

George Orwell Memorial Prize The George Orwell Memorial Prize was an annual prize awarded by Penguin Publishing Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company w ...

for his essay "The Limitations of Despair", first published in '' The Listener'' magazine. Bailey was elected a 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 1999. Bailey's novels include ''At The Jerusalem'' (1967), which is set in an old people's home, and which won a

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 an Arts Council Writers' Award; ''Peter Smart's Confessions'' (1977) and '' Gabriel's Lament'' (1986), both shortlisted 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 award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

for Fiction;McCrum, Robert (7 March 2010
"Last year was sheer hell for the novelist Paul Bailey. Better times may be here"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

''. Retrieved 4 July 2011.Taylor, Alan (27 September 1986)
"Six Authors Brought to Booker"
''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', p. 10. Retrieved 4 July 2011. and ''Sugar Cane'' (1993), a sequel to ''Gabriel's Lament''. ''Kitty and Virgil'' (1998) is the story of the relationship between an Englishwoman and an exiled Romanian poet. In ''Uncle Rudolf'' (2002), the narrator looks back on his colourful life and his rescue as a young boy from a likely death in fascist Romania, by his uncle, a gifted lyric tenor and the novel's eponymous hero. In his book "Chapman's Odyssey" (2011), the main character, Harry Chapman, in morphine-induced delirium, encounters characters from literature, writers, deceased friends and family members as he lies seriously ill in a London hospital.Miller, Keith (14 January 2011
"Chapman's Odyssey by Paul Bailey: review"
''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

''. Retrieved 4 July 2011. Despite his melancholy and fear, Harry entertains the nurses with recitations of some of the favourite poems he has memorised in a lifetime of reading. Bailey's most recent book is ''The Prince's Boy'' (2014), a melancholic gay love story that spans four decades. Bailey has also written plays for radio and television: ''At Cousin Henry's'' was broadcast in 1964 and his adaptation of Joe Ackerley's ''We Think the World of You'' was televised in 1980. His non-fiction books include a volume of memoir, entitled ''An Immaculate Mistake: Scenes from Childhood and Beyond'' (1990), and ''Three Queer Lives: An Alternative Biography of Naomi Jacob, Fred Barnes and Arthur Marshall'' (2001), a biography of three gay popular entertainers from the twentieth century.Canning, Richard (2001)
Three Queer lives by Paul Bailey: Happy campers
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 3 November 2001. Retrieved 4 July 2011. Bailey is also known as a literary critic, and contributor to ''

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 ...

'' and in 2001 headed an all-male "alternative" judging panel for the

Orange Prize 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 ...

.Ezard, John (6 June 2001)
"Out of the 'gum tree and wombat culture
''

''. Retrieved 4 July 2011.

Bibliography

*''At The Jerusalem'' (1967) – winner of the

Author's Club First Novel Award The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented. ...

and

*''Trespasses'' (1970) *''A Distant Likeness'' (1973) *''Peter Smart's Confessions'' (1977), shortlisted for the

*''Old Soldiers'' (1980) *''An English Madam: The Life and Work of

'' (1982) *''Gabriel's Lament'' (1986), shortlisted for the Booker Prize *''An Immaculate Mistake: Scenes from Childhood and Beyond '' (1990) *''Sugar Cane'' (1993) *''The Oxford Book of London'' (ed., 1995) *''First Love'' (ed., 1997) *''Kitty and Virgil'' (1998) *''The Stately Homo: A Celebration of the Life of

'' (ed., 2000) *''Three Queer Lives: An Alternative Biography of

Naomi Jacob Naomi Eleanor Clare Ellington Jacob (1 July 1884 – 27 August 1964), also known by the pen name Ellington Gray, was an English writer, actress and broadcaster. Biography Early life Naomi Jacob was born in Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshir ...

, Fred Barnes and Arthur Marshall'' (2001) *''Uncle Rudolf'' (2002) *''A Dog's Life'' (2003) *''Chapman's Odyssey'' (2011) *''The Prince's Boy'' (2014)

References

External links

* includes a brief analysis of his work.
''Tate Etc.''
Issue 12 / Spring 2008. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Paul 1937 births 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British novelists Academics of Kingston University Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama British biographers British gay writers British LGBT novelists British male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people People educated at Sir Walter St John's Grammar School For Boys