Ross Raisin FRSL (born 1979) 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 ...

."Ross Raisin"
Royal Society of Literature.

Biography

Ross Raisin was born and brought up in

Silsden Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,268 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the haml ...

, West Yorkshire, attending

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school g ...

. He is the author of three novels: ''A Natural'' (2017), ''Waterline'' (2011) and ''God’s Own Country'' (2008). His work has won and been shortlisted for ten literary awards. He won the ''Sunday Times'' Young Writer of the Year award in 2009, and in 2013 was named on ''

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'' once a decade Best of Young British Novelists list. He 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 2018. His book for the ''Read This'' series, on the practice of fiction writing: ''Read This if you Want to be a Great Writer'' was published by

Laurence King Publishing Laurence King Publishing is an publishing house based in London, with offices in Europe and the USA. It was founded by Laurence King in 1991. Laurence King Publishing publish over 120 new titles every year for the mainstream adult, children's and ...

in April 2018 ' He has written short stories for ''Granta'', ''Prospect,'' ''Esquire'', ''Dazed and Confused'', ''the Sunday Times'', BBC Radio Three and Four, and for anthologies such as: ''Best British Short Stories'' (Salt, 2013). He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Awards and honours

Fellowship (2018) *

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

Scholarship (2017) *

Best of Young British Novelists list, 2013 *

IMPAC Dublin Literary 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. ...

, shortlist (2010) * ''Sunday Times'' Young Writer of the Year Award, winner (2009) * Authors’ Club First Novel Award, shortlist (2009) * Betty Trask, Award winner (2008) *

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspap ...

, shortlist (2008) *

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

, shortlist (2008) * Guildford Literary Festival First Novel Award, winner (2008) * John Llwellyn Rhys Prize, shortlist (2008) * Portico Prize for Literature, shortlist (2008)

Publications

* ''God's Own Country'', novel, 2008 (Viking, Penguin) * ''Waterline'', novel, 2011 (Viking, Penguin) * ''A Natural'', 2017 (Jonathan Cape, Random House) * ''Read This if you Want to be a Great Writer'', 2018 (part of the ''Read This'' series on the creative arts, Laurence King) Raisin's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

''God's Own Country'' (titled ''Out Backward'' in North America) was published in 2008. It was shortlisted for the

and the

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and publis ...

, and won a

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 ...

. The novel focuses on Sam Marsdyke, a disturbed adolescent living in a harsh rural environment, and follows his journey from isolated oddity to outright insanity. Thomas Meaney in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' compared the novel favorably to

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...

's ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

'', and said "Out Backward more convincingly registers the internal logic of unredeemable delinquency." Writing in ''

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 ...

'' Justine Jordan described the novel as "an absorbing read", which marked Raisin out as "a young writer to watch". In April 2009 the book won Raisin 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 ...

.http://www.thebookseller.com/news/81962-fifth-time-lucky-for-raisin.html He is currently 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raisin, Ross Living people Alumni of King's College London Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London British writers People from Silsden 1979 births People educated at Bradford Grammar School