Helen Zahavi (born 1966) is an English novelist and screenwriter born and educated in London. Her father was sent to Britain with the Polish Army in the Second World War, while her mother's parents came from Odessa. Before becoming a writer, Zahavi worked as a Russian translator. She has spent several years in Paris.

''Dirty Weekend''

Zahavi's first novel, '' Dirty Weekend'' (1991), caused a media storm on publication: critical reaction was extreme and polarised. A half-page article in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' questioning the book's morality and the author's sanity set the tone for much of the press comment that followed. The book was attacked by

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

, defended by

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book ''The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...

, and analysed at length in both the broadsheet and popular press. Despite initial media hostility, the book went on to be a strong seller in the UK and in Europe. ''Dirty Weekend'' has been translated into 13 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Czech and Korean. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and adapted as a film by

Michael Winner Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

, the director of '' Death Wish''. Zahavi has a screen credit as co-writer and appeared with Winner on an edition of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

discussion programme '' After Dark'' alongside, among others, the father of the so-called

Yorkshire Ripper Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...

. Zahavi has written three further novels – ''True Romance'' (1994), ''Donna and the Fatman'' (1998), and ''Brighton Boy'' (2013) – which have been widely reviewed and translated.

Awards and nominations

*''Dirty Weekend'' was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award in 1991.Front page, ''The Times'', 30 October 1991.

Bibliography

*'' Dirty Weekend'' (Macmillan, 1991). *''True Romance'' (Secker & Warburg, 1994). *''Donna and the Fatman'' (Anchor, 1998). *''Brighton Boy'' (Bestseller Books, 2013).

References

External links

*
Interview with Gerald Jacobs
– ''The Independent on Sunday''

– Andrew Jeffcoat, Lancaster University/ rimeculture.combr>Interview with Alex Kershaw
– ''Tribune Magazine''
Sauve Qui Peut Zahavi
– François Rivière, ''Libération'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahavi, Helen 1966 births Living people 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English people of Polish descent English people of Russian descent