Samantha Harvey is an English novelist. She is the author of several critically acclaimed novels and has been shortlisted for various literary prizes.

Education

Harvey completed the

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshire. The instit ...

Creative Writing MA course in 2005, and has also completed a postgraduate course in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and a PhD in creative writing. Samantha Harvey on stage

Career

Her first novel ''The Wilderness'' (2009), is written from the point of view of man developing

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

,
/ref> and describes through increasingly fractured prose the unravelling effect of the disease. Her second novel, ''All Is Song'' (2012), is a novel about moral and filial duty, and about the choice between questioning and conforming. The author has described the novel as a loose, modern day reimagining of the life of Socrates. Her third novel, ''Dear Thief'', is a long letter from a woman to her absent friend, detailing the emotional fallout of a love triangle. The novel is said to be based on the

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

song ''Famous Blue Raincoat''. It was published in 2014 by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

. Her fourth novel, ''The Western Wind,'' about a priest in fifteenth-century

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, was published in March 2018. ''The Shapeless Unease'', her only work of non-fiction, is an account of her experience of severe

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

. Her most recent novel, ''Orbital'' (2023) takes place on a space station over one day of low earth orbits, and has been described by

Mark Haddon Mark Haddon (born 28 October 1962) is an English novelist, best known for ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Wr ...

as "one of the most beautiful novels I have read in a very long time". Her short stories have appeared in

Granta Magazine ''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 ...

and on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. She reviews for the Guardian and The New York Times, and has contributed essays and articles to the New Yorker, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and TIME magazine among others. Radio appearances include Radio 4's Front Row
Open Book

A Good Read ''A Good Read'' is one of BBC Radio 4's longest-running programmes; in it two guests join the main presenter to choose and discuss their favourite books. Sue MacGregor stepped down in 2010 as the programme's then-longest-serving presenter (seven ...

and

Start the Week ''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular p ...

, and Radio 3's

Free Thinking ''Free Thinking'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of their "After Dark" late night programming. The programme is a rebranded version of ''Night Waves'', "Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme". ''Night Waves'' was b ...

Harvey's novels have been considered for many prizes, including the

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. ...

, the

Baileys Women's 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

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

, the

Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Sc ...

, and 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 ...

. In 2010 she was named one of the 12 best new British novelists by The Culture Show. In 2019, ''The Western Wind'' won the

Staunch Book Prize The Staunch Book Prize is an award given to thriller novels that avoid featuring violence to women. British writer and screenwriter Bridget Lawless founded the prize in 2018. Some writers object to the premise of the award, referring to it as a "gag ...

. She is a Reader on the MA in creative writing at Bath Spa University and a member of the academy for the

Rathbones Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...

, and is acting as a mentor for the Rathbones Folio Mentorships. She was a member of the jury for the 2016

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

, and has held writing fellowships at MacDowell in the US,

Hawthornden Wangsa Maju is a township and a constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This area is surrounded by Setapak, Taman Melati and Gombak district in Selangor. Wangsa Maju is one of the largest townships in Kuala Lumpur and consists of many sections ...

in Scotland, and the

Santa Maddalena Foundation Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

in Italy. She teaches regularly for Arvon, and runs writing courses annually in Spain/Italy with the author

Emma Hooper Emma Hooper is a Canadian writer.

Bibliography

Novels

* * * * *

Non-fiction

Accolades

Harvey's writing has been compared to that of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

, and she has been praised for her lyrical prose and insightful explorations of the human psyche.

Nominations and prizes

* Shortlisted for the 2019

Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Sc ...

for ''The Western Wind'' * Winner of the 2019

* Shortlisted for the

s (2015) * Longlisted for the

Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize is a literary award for eight British writers of outstanding works of fiction, who each receive £5,000.Baileys Prize for Fiction (2015) * Shortlisted for the

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 ...

(2009) * Longlisted for the

(2009) * Shortlisted for the

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 ...

(2009) * Winner of the AMI Literature Award (2009) * Winner of the

Betty Trask Prize 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 ...

(2009)

Translations

Harvey's novels have been published in the following translations: Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Norwegian, Portuguese and Romanian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Samantha 1975 births Living people English women novelists Alumni of Bath Spa University Academics of Bath Spa University English historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages