Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist,

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

, and

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

works. She is best known for her book''

The Bloody Chamber ''The Bloody Chamber'' (or ''The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories'') is a collection of short fiction by English writer Angela Carter. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1979 by Gollancz and won the Cheltenham Festival Literary ...

'', which was published in 1979. In 2008, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' ranked Carter tenth in their list of "The 50 greatest

British writers British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

since 1945". In 2012, ''

Nights at the Circus ''Nights at the Circus'' is a novel by British writer Angela Carter, first published in 1984 and the winner of the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of Sophie Fevvers, a woman who is ...

'' was selected as the best ever winner of 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, Uni ...

Biography

Born Angela Olive Stalker in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, in 1940, to Sophia Olive (née Farthing; 1905–1969), a cashier at

Selfridge's Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

, and journalist Hugh Alexander Stalker (1896–1988), Carter was evacuated as a child to live in Yorkshire with her maternal grandmother. After attending

Streatham and Clapham High School Streatham & Clapham High School is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18, in south London. The school was founded in 1887 by the Girls' Day School Trust, Girls' Public Day School Company, which established schools for girls providin ...

, in south London, she began work as a journalist on ''

The Croydon Advertiser ''The Croydon Advertiser'' (with locally branded editions) is a paid-for weekly newspaper with five editions covering the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and two neighbouring towns and with a free up-to-the-minute maintained web presence. Ci ...

'', following in her father's footsteps. Carter attended the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

where she studied English literature. She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter, divorcing in 1972. In 1969, she used the proceeds of her

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

to leave her husband and relocate for two years to Tokyo, where she claims in ''Nothing Sacred'' (1982) that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised". She wrote about her experiences there in articles for ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and so ...

'' and a collection of short stories, '' Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces'' (1974), and evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in ''

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'', published in the United States as ''The War of Dreams'', is a 1972 novel by Angela Carter. This picaresque novel is heavily influenced by surrealism, Romanticism, critical theory, and other bra ...

'' (1972). She then explored the United States, Asia and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer in residence at universities, including the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, Brown University, the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. In 1977, Carter met Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son and whom she married shortly before her death. In 1979, both ''

'', and her feminist essay, ''

The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography ''The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography'' is a 1978 non-fiction book by Angela Carter. The book is a feminist re-appraisal of the work of the Marquis de Sade, consisting of a collection of essays analyzing his literature, particularly ...

'', appeared. In the essay, according to the writer

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner, (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publicat ...

, Carter "deconstructs the arguments that underlie ''The Bloody Chamber''. It's about desire and its destruction, the self-immolation of women, how women collude and connive with their condition of enslavement. She was much more independent-minded than the traditional feminist of her time." As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' and ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'', collected in ''Shaking a Leg''. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original radio dramas on

Richard Dadd Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalism, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre works, genre scenes, rendered w ...

and

Ronald Firbank Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank (17 January 1886 – 21 May 1926) was an innovative English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with referen ...

. Two of her fictions have been adapted for film: ''

The Company of Wolves ''The Company of Wolves'' is a 1984 British gothic fantasy horror film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese and Sarah Patterson in her film debut. The screenplay was written by Jordan and Angela C ...

'' (1984) and ''

The Magic Toyshop ''The Magic Toyshop'' (1967) is a British novel by Angela Carter. It follows the development of the heroine, Melanie, as she becomes aware of herself, her environment, and her own sexuality. Plot summary The novel starts with Melanie stealin ...

'' (1967). She was actively involved in both adaptations; her screenplays are published in the collected dramatic writings, ''

The Curious Room ''The Curious Room'' () is a book collecting various plays and scripts by English writer Angela Carter. Its full title is ''The Curious Room: Plays, Film Scripts and an Opera''. The book contains her original screenplays for the films '' The Co ...

'', together with her radio scripts, a libretto for an opera 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 ...

's '' Orlando: A Biography'', an unproduced screenplay entitled ''The Christchurch Murders'' (based on the same true story as Peter Jackson's ''

Heavenly Creatures ''Heavenly Creatures'' is a 1994 New Zealand biographical psychological drama film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his partner, Fran Walsh, and starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in their feature film debu ...

'') and other works. These neglected works, as well as her controversial television documentary, ''

The Holy Family Album ''The Holy Family Album'' is a television documentary written and narrated by Angela Carter. It was directed by Jo Ann Kaplan and produced by John Ellis at Large Door Productions, London, UK. It was broadcast on the UK's Channel 4 on 3 December ...

'', are discussed in Charlotte Crofts' book, ''

Anagrams of Desire ''Anagrams of Desire'' is an academic textbook about Angela Carter's media writings. Written by Charlotte Crofts and published by Manchester University Press in 2003, the full title is ''Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter's Writing for Radio, Film ...

'' (2003). Her novel ''

'' won the 1984

for literature. Her last novel, ''

Wise Children ::''This article refers to the novel by Angela Carter. For the album by Tom Harrell see Wise Children (album)'' ''Wise Children'' (1991) was the last novel written by Angela Carter. The novel follows the fortunes of twin chorus girls, Dora and ...

'', is a surreal wild ride through British theatre and music hall traditions. Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. At the time of her death, she had started work on a sequel to

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

's ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens; only a synopsis survives.

Works

Novels

*'' Shadow Dance'' (1966, also known as ''Honeybuzzard'') *''

'' (1967) *'' Several Perceptions'' (1968) *''

Heroes and Villains "Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album '' Smiley Smile'' and their unfinished ''Smile'' project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-the ...

'' (1969) *''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

'' (1971) *''

'' (1972, also known as ''The War of Dreams'') *''

The Passion of New Eve ''The Passion of New Eve'' is a novel by Angela Carter, first published in 1977. The book is set in a dystopian United States where civil war has broken out between different political, racial and gendered groups. A dark satire, the book parod ...

'' (1977) *''

'' (1984) *''

'' (1991)

Short fiction collections

*'' Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces'' (1974; also published as ''Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises'' and ''Fireworks'') *''

'' (1979) *''The Bridegroom'' (1983) (Uncollected short story) *'' Black Venus'' (1985; published as ''Saints and Strangers'' in the United States) *'' American Ghosts and Old World Wonders'' (1993) *'' Burning Your Boats'' (1995)

Poetry collections

*''Five Quiet Shouters'' (1966) *''Unicorn'' (1966) *''Unicorn: The Poetry of Angela Carter'' (2015)

Dramatic works

*''Come Unto These Yellow Sands: Four Radio Plays'' (1985) *'' The Curious Room: Plays, Film Scripts and an Opera'' (1996) (includes Carter's screenplays for adaptations of ''

'' and ''

''; also includes the contents of ''Come Unto These Golden Sands: Four Radio Plays'')

Children's books

*'' The Donkey Prince'' (1970, illustrated by Eros Keith) *'' Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady'' (1970, illustrated by Eros Keith) *'' Comic and Curious Cats'' (1979, illustrated by Martin Leman) *''Moonshadow'' (1982) illustrated by Justin Todd *''Sea-Cat and Dragon King'' (2000, illustrated by Eva Tatcheva)

Non-fiction

*''

'' (1979) *''Nothing Sacred: Selected Writings'' (1982) *''Expletives Deleted: Selected Writings'' (1992) *''Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writing'' (1997) She wrote two entries in "A Hundred Things Japanese" published in 1975 by the Japan Culture Institute. It says "She has lived in Japan both from 1969 to 1971 and also during 1974" (p. 202).

As editor

*''Wayward Girls and Wicked Women: An Anthology of Subversive Stories'' (1986) *''The Virago Book of Fairy Tales'' (1990) a.k.a. ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'' *''The Second Virago Book of Fairy Tales'' (1992) a.k.a. ''Strange Things Still Sometimes Happen: Fairy Tales From Around the World'' (1993) *''Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales'' (2005) (collects the two Virago Books above)

As translator

*''The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault'' (1977) *''Sleeping Beauty and Other Favourite Fairy Tales'' (1982) illustrated by Michael Foreman ( Perrault stories with two by Leprince de Beaumont)

Film adaptations

*''

'' (1984) adapted by Carter with

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian ...

from her

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

of the same name, " Wolf-Alice" and " The Werewolf" *''

'' (1987) adapted by Carter from her novel of the same name, and directed by David Wheatley

Radio plays

*''Vampirella'' (1976) written by Carter and directed by

Glyn Dearman Glyn Dearman (30 December 1939 – 30 November 1997) was an English actor, originally a child actor, whose career spanned almost two decades, including the eponymous '' Jennings'' in BBC ''Children's Hour'' "Jennings at School". Dearman is perha ...

for BBC. Formed the basis for the short story " The Lady of the House of Love". *''Come Unto These Yellow Sands'' (1979) *''The Company of Wolves'' (1980) adapted by Carter from her

of the same name, and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC *''Puss-in-Boots'' (1982) adapted by Carter from her

and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC *''A Self-Made Man'' (1984)

Television

*''

'' (1991) *'' Omnibus: Angela Carter's Curious Room'' (1992)

Works on Angela Carter

:*Crofts, Charlotte, ''"Curiously downbeat hybrid" or "radical retelling"? – Neil Jordan’s and Angela Carter’s ''The Company of Wolves''.'' In Cartmell, Deborah, I. Q. Hunter, Heidi Kaye and Imelda Whelehan (eds), ''Sisterhoods Across the Literature Media Divide'', London: Pluto Press, 1998, pp. 48–63.] :*Crofts, Charlotte
''Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter's Writing for Radio, Film and Television''
Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003. :*Crofts, Charlotte
''‘The Other of the Other’: Angela Carter's ‘New-Fangled’ Orientalism''
In Munford, Rebecca ''Re-Visiting Angela Carter Texts, Contexts, Intertexts.'' London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, pp. 87–109. :*Dimovitz, Scott A.
''Angela Carter: Surrealist, Psychologist, Moral Pornographer''
New York: Routledge, 2016. :*Dimovitz, Scott A. "I Was the Subject of the Sentence Written on the Mirror: Angela Carter's Short Fiction and the Unwriting of the Psychoanalytic Subject". ''Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory'' 21.1 (2010): 1–19. :*Dimovitz, Scott A., "Angela Carter’s Narrative Chiasmus: ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' and ''The Passion of New Eve''". ''Genre'' XVII (2009): 83–111. :*Dimovitz, Scott A., "Cartesian Nuts: Rewriting the Platonic Androgyne in Angela Carter's Japanese Surrealism". ''FEMSPEC: An Interdisciplinary Feminist Journal'', 6:2 (December 2005): 15–31. :*Dmytriieva, Valeriia V., "Gender Alterations in English and French Modernist 'Bluebeard' Fairytale". ''English Language and literature studies'', 6:3. (2016): 16–20. :* :*Gordon, Edmund
''The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography''
London: Chatto & Windus, 2016. :*Kérchy, Anna
''Body-Texts in the Novels of Angela Carter. Writing from a Corporeagraphic Perspective''

Lewiston, New York Lewiston is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 15,944 at the 2020 census. The town and its contained village are named after Morgan Lewis, a governor of New York. The Town of Lewiston is on the western bord ...

: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008. :*Milne, Andrew
''The Bloody Chamber d'Angela Carter''
Paris: Editions Le Manuscrit, Université, 2006. :*Milne, Andrew
''Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber: A Reader's Guide''
Paris: Editions Le Manuscrit Université, 2007. :*Munford, Rebecca (ed.)
''Re-Visiting Angela Carter Texts, Contexts, Intertexts''
London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. :*Tonkin, Maggie, ''Angela Carter and Decadence: Critical Fictions/Fictional Critiques''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. :*Topping, Angela
''Focus on The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories''
London: The Greenwich Exchange, 2009.

Commemoration

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

unveiled a blue plaque at Carter's final home at 107, The Chase in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, South London in September 2019. She wrote many of her books in the sixteen years she lived at the address, as well as tutoring the young

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most cr ...

. :In 2008, the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

acquired the Angela Carter Papers, a large collection of 224 files and volumes containing manuscripts, correspondence, personal diaries, photographs and audio cassettes.

References

External links

* *
Angela Carter's radio workAngela Carter
at the

*
BBC interview
(video, 25 June 1991, 25 mins) *

'' Daily Telegraph'', 3 May 2010 *
Angela Carter in conversation
with

Elizabeth Jolley Monica Elizabeth Jolley AO (4 June 1923 – 13 February 2007) was an English-born Australian writer who settled in Western Australia in the late 1950s and forged an illustrious literary career there. She was 53 when her first book was publishe ...

, British Library (audio, 1988, 53 mins)
Angela Carter essay
on

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

, '' London Review of Books'', Vol. 2 No. 19 · 2 October 1980
"A Conversation with Angela Carter"
by Anna Katsavos, '' The Review of Contemporary Fiction'', Fall 1994, Vol. 14.3 {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Angela 1940 births 1992 deaths 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century translators Academics of the University of East Anglia Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Bristol British women short story writers Deaths from lung cancer in England English feminist writers English short story writers English socialist feminists English socialists English women novelists James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Magic realism writers People from Eastbourne Weird fiction writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers