Sarah Hall (born 1974) is an English
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 ...
and short story writer. Her critically acclaimed second novel, ''
The Electric Michelangelo'', was nominated for the 2004
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. ...
. She lives in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
.
Biography
Hall was born in
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
. She obtained a degree in English and Art History from
Aberystwyth University
, mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all
, established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'')
, former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth
, type = Public
, endowment = ...
before taking an
MLitt
The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree.
Ireland
Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...
in Creative Writing at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, where she briefly taught on the undergraduate Creative Writing programme. She still teaches creative writing, regularly giving courses for the
Arvon Foundation
The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations.
Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Ch ...
. She began her writing career as a poet, publishing poems in various literary magazines.
Her debut novel, ''Haweswater'', is a rural tragedy about the disintegration of a community of Cumbrian hill-farmers due to the building of
Haweswater Reservoir
Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament
The Parliament ...
. It won the 2003
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
(Overall Winner, Best First Book).
Her second novel, ''
The Electric Michelangelo'', set in early twentieth century
Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...
and
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
, is the biography of a fictional tattoo artist. The novel was shortlisted for 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. ...
in 2004, and again for the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2005. In France, it was shortlisted for the
Prix Femina
The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...
Étranger 2004.
Her third novel, ''The Carhullan Army'', won the 2007
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 the
James Tiptree, Jr. Award, and it was shortlisted for the 2008
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...
. In America, the novel was published under the title ''Daughters of the North''. She was invited to become writer-in-residence by the Grasmere-based Ullswater Trust – an organisation which supports and encourages writers – while working on the book.
Her novel ''How to Paint a Dead Man'' was longlisted for 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. ...
.
In 2013, she was included in the ''
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 ...
'' list of 20 best young writers. In October 2013, she won the
BBC National Short Story Award
BBC National Short Story Award is a British literary award for short stories. It was founded in 2005 by the NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) with support from BBC Radio 4 and ''Prospect'' magazine. The winner re ...
for "Mrs Fox". She won for a second time in 2020 for her story "The Grotesques".
In 2016 Hall was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
All her novels are published by
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
; she participates in writing tuition classes during in-residence writing courses run by The Faber Academy. Sarah Hall has lived both in the United Kingdom and in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
.
Hall is a patron of
Humanists UK
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...
.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''Haweswater'' (2002)
* ''
The Electric Michelangelo'' (2004)
* ''The Carhullan Army'' (2007)
* ''How to Paint a Dead Man'' (2009)
* ''The Wolf Border'' (2015)
* ''Burntcoat'' (October 2021, )
Short-story collections
* ''The Beautiful Indifference'' (2011)
* ''Mrs Fox'' (2014)
* ''Madame Zero'' (2017)
* ''Sudden Traveller'' (2019)
As contributor or editor
* ''Sex and Death: Stories'' (2016)
References
External links
Sarah Hall at Contemporarywriters.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Sarah
1970s births
Living people
English women novelists
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners
People from Carlisle, Cumbria
Alumni of Aberystwyth University
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
Date of birth missing (living people)
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature