Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English writer. Her first book, ''

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit ''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' is a novel by Jeanette Winterson published in 1985 by Pandora Press. It is a coming-of-age story about a lesbian girl who grows up in an English Pentecostal community. Key themes of the book include transition ...

'', was a

semi-autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

about a sensitive teenage girl rebelling against convention. Other novels explore gender polarities and sexual identity and later ones the relations between humans and technology. She broadcasts and teaches creative writing. She has won a Whitbread Prize for a First Novel, a BAFTA Award for Best Drama, 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 ...

, the E. M. Forster Award and the

St. Louis Literary Award The St. Louis Literary Award has been presented yearly since 1967 to a distinguished figure in literature. It is sponsored by the Saint Louis University Library Associates. Winners Past Recipients of the Award: *2023 Neil Gaiman *2022 Arundhati ...

, and the Lambda Literary Award twice. She holds an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) and a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE), and is a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

Early life

Winterson was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and adopted by Constance and John William Winterson on 21 January 1960. She grew up in

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

, Lancashire, and was raised in the Elim Pentecostal Church. She was raised to become a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Christian missionary, and she began evangelising and writing sermons at the age of six. By the age of 16, Winterson had come out as a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

and left home. She soon after attended Accrington and Rossendale College, and supported herself at a variety of odd jobs while reading English at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Career

After she moved to London, she wrote her first novel, ''

,'' which won the 1985 Whitbread Prize for a First Novel. Winterson adapted it for television in 1990. Her novel '' The Passion'' was set in

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

ic Europe. Winterson's subsequent novels explore the boundaries of physicality and the imagination, gender polarities, and sexual identities, and have won several literary awards. Her stage adaptation of ''The PowerBook'' in 2002 opened at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

, London. She also bought a derelict

terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...

, east London, which she refurbished into an occasional flat and a ground-floor shop, Verde's, to sell organic food. In January 2017 she discussed closing the shop when a spike in

rateable value Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government. Some other countries have taxes with a more or less comparable role ...

, and so business rates, threatened to make the business untenable. In 2009, Winterson donated the short story "Dog Days" to Oxfam's

Ox-Tales Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The Ox-Tales books we ...

project, covering four collections of UK stories by 38 authors. Her story appeared in the ''Fire'' collection. She also supported the relaunch of the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

in London's Shepherd's Bush. She wrote and performed work for the ''

Sixty Six Books ''Sixty-Six Books'' was a set of plays premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2011, to mark the theatre's reopening on a new site and the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. It drew its title from the 66 books of the Protestant Bible ...

'' project, based on a chapter of the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

, along with other novelists and poets including Paul Muldoon, Carol Ann Duffy, Anne Michaels and Catherine Tate. Winterson's 2012 novella ''The Daylight Gate'', based on the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials, appeared on their 400th anniversary. Its main character, Alice Nutter, is based on the real-life woman of the same name. ''

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 ...

s Sarah Hall describes the work:

"the narrative voice is irrefutable; this is old-fashioned storytelling, with a sermonic tone that commands and terrifies. It's also like courtroom reportage, sworn witness testimony. The sentences are short, truthful – and dreadful.... Absolutism is Winterson's forte, and it's the perfect mode to verify supernatural events when they occur. You're not asked to believe in magic. Magic exists. A severed head talks. A man is transmogrified into a hare. The story is stretched as tight as a rack, so the reader's disbelief is ruptured rather than suspended. And if doubt remains, the text's sensuality persuades."

In 2012, Winterson succeeded

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

as professor of creative writing at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

Awards and recognition

*1985: Whitbread Prize for a First Novel for ''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' *1987:

for ''The Passion'' *1989: E. M. Forster Award for ''Sexing the Cherry'' *1992: BAFTA Award for Best Drama for ''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' TV serial *1994: Winner, Lesbian Fiction category,

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

for ''Written on the Body'' *2006:

(OBE) in the

2006 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to cel ...

, for services to literature *2013: Winner, Lesbian Memoir or Biography category, Lambda Literary Awardsm for ''Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?'' *2014:

*2016: Chosen as one of BBC's 100 Women. *2016: Elected

*2018: She presented the 42nd Richard Dimbleby Lecture in celebration of 100 years of women's suffrage in the UK *2018:

(CBE) in the

2018 Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, for services to literature *2019: Longlisted 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 ''Frankissstein: A Love Story''

Personal life

Winterson came out as a

at the age of 16. Her 1987 novel ''The Passion'' was inspired by her relationship with Pat Kavanagh, her

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

. From 1990 to 2002, Winterson had a relationship with

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio broadcaster and academic Peggy Reynolds. After that ended, Winterson became involved with theatre director

Deborah Warner Deborah Warner (born 12 May 1959) is a British director of theatre and opera, known for her interpretations of the works of Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Benjamin Britten and Henrik Ibsen. Early life Warner was born in Oxfordshire, England, to ...

. In 2015, she married psychotherapist

Susie Orbach Susie Orbach (born 6 November 1946) is a British psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer and social critic. Her first book, ''Fat is a Feminist Issue'', analysed the psychology of dieting and over-eating in women, and she has campaigned against m ...

, author of ''Fat is a Feminist Issue''. The couple separated in 2019.

Bibliography

*''

'' (1985) *''Boating for Beginners'' (1985) *''Fit for the Future: The Guide for Women Who Want to Live Well'' (1986) *'' The Passion'' (1987) *''

Sexing the Cherry ''Sexing the Cherry'' (1989) is a novel by Jeanette Winterson. Set in 17th century London, ''Sexing the Cherry'' is about the journeys of a mother, known as The Dog Woman, and her protégé, Jordan. They journey in a space-time flux: across th ...

'' (1989) *''Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit: the script'' (1990) *''Written on the Body'' (1992) *''Art & Lies: A Piece for Three Voices and a Bawd'' (1994) *''Great Moments in Aviation: the script'' (1995) *''Art Objects: Essays in Ecstasy and Effrontery'' (1995) - essays *''

Gut Symmetries ''Gut Symmetries'' is a 1997 novel by the British literary writer Jeanette Winterson, exploring themes of human relationships and physics. Plot The book deals with a love triangle between Alice (a young British physicist), Jove (who is a male ph ...

'' (1997) *'' The World and Other Places'' (1998) - short stories *''The Dreaming House'' (1998) *''The Powerbook'' (2000) *''The King of Capri'' (2003) - children's literature *''

Lighthousekeeping ''Lighthousekeeping'' is a 2004 novel by Jeanette Winterson. The novel depicts the perilous unbalanced psychology of the narrating character Silver, who becomes an apprentice to a lighthouse keeper. and follows in Winterson's typically mythologi ...

'' (2004) *''Weight'' (2005) *''Tanglewreck'' (2006) - children's literature *''

The Stone Gods Stone Gods were a British hard rock band formed by some ex-members of the hard rock band The Darkness. Their debut album, titled ''Silver Spoons & Broken Bones'', was released in July 2008, with the first single "Knight of the Living Dead" be ...

'' (2007) *''The Battle of the Sun'' (2009) *'' Ingenious'' (2009) *''The Lion, The Unicorn and Me: The Donkey's Christmas Story'' (2009) *''Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?'' (2011) - memoir *''The Daylight Gate'' (2012) *''The Gap of Time'' (2015) *''Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days'' (2016) *''Eight Ghosts: The English Heritage Book of New Ghost Stories '' (2017) *''Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere'' (2018) *'' Frankissstein: A Love Story'' (2019) *''12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Jeanette Winterson author page
by Guardian Unlimited *
''Guardian'' podcast interview (2007)''Rain Taxi'' interview (2005)
*An extended autobiographical article in ''The Guardian'', Friday 28 October 2011
Retrieved 1 November 2011.2012 radio interview
(30 minutes) at

The Bat Segundo Show ''The Bat Segundo Show'' was a podcast based in New York City run by writer and literary critic Edward Champion between 2004 and 2012. It was revived in mid-2013. The program features comprehensive interviews with prominent figures in arts and ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winterson, Jeanette 1959 births 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century British novelists 21st-century English women writers 21st-century British short story writers Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford BBC 100 Women British women short story writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Costa Book Award winners English adoptees English memoirists English screenwriters English short story writers English women non-fiction writers English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction winners English lesbian writers English LGBT novelists LGBT memoirists Living people Magic realism writers People from Accrington British women memoirists Writers from Manchester