Ian Thomson (born 1961) is an English author, best known for his biography ''Primo Levi'' (2002), and reportage, ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' (2009)

Biography

Ian Thomson was born in London in 1961. His parents moved to New York City that same year, where his father worked for a Wall Street bank. (His mother, a

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

émigrée, came to England in 1947 at the age of 17.) Thomson was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

, then at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read English. He is the godson of the British painter Carel Weight. In the 1980s he taught English literature and English as a foreign language in Rome, then became a translator, journalist and writer, contributing to the ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'' and ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. He was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the

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. Currently he is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Non-Fiction at 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 ...

. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL). His first important book, ''Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti'' (1992), an amalgam of history and adventure, was recommended by

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...

as "hair-raising but hugely entertaining", and by the film director Jonathan Demme as "a great and abiding classic". His book, ''Primo Levi'' (2002), a biography, took 10 years to write and is seen today as the definitive life of the Italian writer and concentration camp survivor. It won the RSL's W. H. Heinemann Award and was shortlisted for the ''

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''′s Wingate Literary Prize and the

Koret Jewish Book Award The Koret Jewish Book Award is an annual award that recognizes "recently published books on any aspect of Jewish life in the categories of biography/autobiography and literary studies, fiction, history and philosophy/thought published in, or transla ...

. (A centenary edition of the biography was published in 2019, fully updated and with a new preface, as ''Primo Levi: The Elements of a Life.'') In 2005 Thomson went back to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

to write ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' (2009), seen by some as one of the most controversial books written on

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. In 2010 ''The Dead Yard'' was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's

Ondaatje Prize The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the "spirit of a place", and is written by someon ...

as well as the Dolman Travel Book Award.

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

spoke of it in '' Harper's Magazine'' as a "truly excellent book". Thomson edited ''Articles of Faith: The Collected Tablet Journalism of Graham Greene'' (2006), and contributed a short story to ''Kingston Noir'' (2012), a collection of fiction set in the Jamaican capital by various contemporary writers. In 2011, he donated the memoir, ''Fall and Rise of a Rome Patient'', to Oxfam’s "OxTravel" project, a collection of UK articles by 36 writers. Thomson has translated the Sicilian crime writer

Leonardo Sciascia Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), ''Cadaveri Eccellent ...

into English, and has lectured at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, London. ''Dante's Journey'': ''A Journey Without End'' (2018), Ian Thomson's "biography" of Dante's great poem, was a ''Financial Times'' and ''Times Literary Supplement'' Book of the Year. In 2022 an interview Thomson conducted in Sicily with Leonardo Sciascia at the age of 24 was published as a book, ''Una conversazione a Palermo con Leonardo Sciascia''; it contained a correspondence between Thomson and Sciascia. Ian Thomson lives in London with his wife and children.

Selected bibliography

* 1992 ''Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti'' * 2002 ''Primo Levi: A Life'' * 2007 ''Articles of Faith: Graham Greene’s Contributions to The Tablet'' * 2009 ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' * 2012 ''Kingston Noir'' *2018 ''Dante's Divine Comedy'': ''A Journey Without End'' *2019 ''Primo Levi: The Elements of'' ''a Life'' *2022 ''Ian Thomson: Una conversazione a Palermo con Leonardo Sciascia'' (Rubbettino Editore, Sicilia)

Awards and prizes

* 1988 Society of Authors Foundation Grant ''Primo Levi'': ''A Life'' * 2002 Royal Society of Literature W.H. Heinemann Award ''Primo Levi: A Life'' * 2009 Society of Authors Foundation Grant ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' * 2010 Royal Society of Literature

''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' * 2010 Dolman Travel Book Award ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica''

References

1961 births Living people People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Academics of the University of East Anglia Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English writers English travel writers 20th-century travel writers 21st-century travel writers

External links

{{wikiquote
IanThomson.info
– Ian Thomson's website
RLF page for Ian Thomson