Tony Peake (born 1951) is a novelist, short story writer and biographer. He was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, but has been based in Britain since the early 1970s.

Biography

Early life

Tony Peake was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa, in 1951 to English parents. His father, Bladon Peake (1902–1972), was a theatre and film director. Peake was educated at

Waterkloof House Preparatory School Waterkloof House Preparatory School (WHPS, pronounced, and commonly known as, ''WHiPS'') is an independent (private) primary school in Pretoria, South Africa, offering education to grade 000 and grade 00 boys and girls, and grade 0–7 boys onl ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, St. Martin's School in Johannesburg and at

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the province's oldest ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana ...

, where he read History and English, graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in English.

Career

Peake moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1973. He worked as production manager at the

Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of voluntee ...

under

Charles Marowitz Charles Marowitz (26 January 1934 – 2 May 2014) was an American critic, theatre director, and playwright, regular columnist on Swans Commentary. He collaborated with Peter Brook at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and later founded and direct ...

and

Thelma Holt Thelma Holt (born 4 January 1932) is a British theatre producer and former actress. After a successful career as an actress, in partnership with Charles Marowitz, Thelma founded the Open Space Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London, which b ...

. In the late 1970s he lived for a while on Ibiza and taught English, History and Drama at the Morna Valley School. Since then he has lived in

and Mistley and worked in modelling, acting, film distribution and as a literary agent. As a short story writer and essayist, Peake has contributed to four volumes of ''Winter’s Tales'' (edited by Robin Baird-Smith, Constable); ''The Penguin Book of Contemporary South African Short Stories'' (edited by Stephen Gray); ''The Mammoth Book of Gay Short Stories'' (edited by Peter Burton, Robinson Publishing); ''New Writing 13'' (edited by

Toby Litt Toby Litt is an English writer and academic in the Department of English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London. Life Litt was born in Ampthill in 1968. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, read English at Worcester College, Ox ...

and

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 ...

, Picador); ''The Way We Are Now: gay and lesbian lives in the 21st century'' (a

Stonewall (UK) Stonewall (officially Stonewall Equality Limited) is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe. Named after the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York Ci ...

anthology edited by

Ben Summerskill Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill (born 6 October 1961 in Kent) is chair of The Silver Line and director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, a consortium of 135 charities working across the GB criminal justice pathway. He was the chief executive of th ...

, Continuum); ''Seduction'' (

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

), a themed anthology which he also edited; ''Yes, I Am! Writing by South African Gay Men'' (compiled by Robin Malan and Ashraf Johaardien, Junkets Publisher, Cape Town); ''Speak My Language, and Other Stories'' (edited by Torsten Højer, Robinson Publishing) and ''Best British Short Stories 2016'' (edited by

Nicholas Royle Nicholas Royle (born 20 March 1963 in Manchester) is an English novelist, editor, publisher, literary reviewer and creative writing lecturer. Literary career Author Royle has written seven novels: ''Counterparts'', ''Saxophone Dreams'', ''The Mat ...

Salt Publishing Salt Publishing is an independent publisher whose origins date back to 1990 when poet John Kinsella launched ''Salt Magazine'' in Western Australia. The journal rapidly developed an international reputation as a leading publisher of new poetry ...

). Peake is also the author of three novels, ''A Summer Tide'' (Abacus, 1993), ''Son to the Father'' (Little, Brown, 1995; Abacus, 1996) and ''North Facing'' (

Myriad Editions Myriad Editions is an independent UK publishing house based in Brighton and Hove, specialising in topical atlases, graphic non-fiction and original fiction, whose output also encompasses graphic novels that span a variety of genres, including me ...

, 2017), and the authorised biography of

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

(Little, Brown, 1999; Abacus, 2000; Overlook Press, 2000; reissued in the States by the

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its boo ...

, 2011).

Works

Books

*''A Summer Tide'' (Abacus, 1993), (trade paperback), (paperback) *''Son to the Father'' (

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

, 1995; Abacus 1996), (hardback), (paperback) *''North Facing'' (

, 2017), (paperback), (ebook) *''Derek Jarman'' (Little, Brown, 1999; Abacus, 2000;

Overlook Press The Overlook Press is an American publishing house based in New York, New York, that considers itself "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses". History and operations It was formed in 1971 by Peter Mayer, wh ...

, 2000; reissued in the States by the

, 2011), (paperback), (ebook)

Short stories

* "Necessary Appendages", in ''Winter's Tales 7'', edited by Robin Baird-Smith, Constable, London, 1991, * "Girl Dancing", in ''Winter's Tales 8'', edited by Robin Baird-Smith, Constable, London, 1992, * "Necessary Appendages", in ''The Penguin Book of Contemporary South African Short Stories'', edited by Steven Gray, Penguin, London, 1993, * "A Son's Story", in ''Winter's Tales 9'', edited by Robin Baird-Smith, Constable, London, 1993, * "The Good Butler", in ''Seduction'', edited by Tony Peake, Serpent's Tail, London, 1994, * "Crossing the Line", in ''Winter's Tales 10'', edited by Robin Baird-Smith, Constable, London, 1994, * "A Son's Story", in ''The Mammoth Book of Gay Short Stories'', edited by Peter Burton, Robinson Publishing, London, 1997, * "By the Pool", in ''The Gay Times Book of Short Stories: New Century New Writing'', edited by P-P Hartnett, Gay Times Books, Millivres Ltd., London, 2000, * "A Portrait", in ''New Writing 13'', edited by Toby Litt & Ali Smith, Picador, London, 2005, * "Fairy Tale", An essay in ''The Way We Are Now: gay and lesbian lives in the 21st century'', edited by Ben Summerskill, Continuum, London, 2006, * "History Lesson", ''Untitled Books'', September 200
www.untitledbooks.com
* "Lucky for Some", '' Sunday Express'', 17 January 201
www.express.co.uk
* "History Lesson", in ''Yes, I Am! Writing by South African Gay Men'', compiled by Robin Malan & Ashraf Johaardien, Cape Town: Junkets Publisher, 2010, * "Raw Material", in ''The New Writer'', May/June 2010 * "The Good Butler", in ''Speak My Language, and Other Stories'', edited by Torsten Højer, Robinson Publishing, London, 2015, (paperback) (ebook) * "The Bluebell Wood", in Anglo Files No. 177, September 201
www.www.engelskforeningen.dk/anglo-files/
* "The Bluebell Wood", in ''Best British Short Stories 2016'', edited by

, 2016, (paperback) (ebook)

References

External links

www.tonypeake.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peake, Tony Living people South African male novelists South African biographers Male biographers South African male writers South African LGBT novelists 1951 births Writers from Johannesburg Rhodes University alumni 20th-century South African novelists 21st-century South African novelists