William John Fiennes FRSL (born 7 August 1970) is an English author best known for his memoirs ''The Snow Geese'' (2002) and ''The Music Room'' (2009).

Early life and education

Fiennes was born into the

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family The Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family are the descendants of the 16th Baron Saye and Sele who was born Frederick Benjamin Twistleton and adopted the surname Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes in 1849 by Act of Parliament. He was the grandson of Thomas Twi ...

and raised in 14th-century

Broughton Castle Broughton Castle is a medieval fortified manor house in the village of Broughton, which is about two miles south-west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England, on the B4035 road (). It is the home of the Fiennes (in full Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes) ...

in Oxfordshire, the youngest of five children of Nathaniel Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele (born 1920) and Mariette ''née'' Salisbury-Jones. His elder sister is the artist Susannah Fiennes and his maternal grandfather was soldier and courtier Guy Salisbury-Jones. One of William's brothers died in a road accident at the age of three before he was born, and another brother, Richard, developed

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

which caused aggression and mood swings (and eventually his death at the age of 41). Fiennes was educated at the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

Oxford 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 ...

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, and

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 th ...

, where he received both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Writing

Fiennes' first book, ''The Snow Geese'' (2002), is his account of how he followed

snow geese The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

to their summer breeding grounds on Baffin Island, and a meditation on the idea of home. Mark Cocker reviewed it for ''The Guardian'', writing: "''The Snow Geese'' is the debut of a striking talent". It was shortlisted for the 2002

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

and won the 2003

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written ...

, the 2003

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 ...

and the 2003

Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award The Sunday Times / University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year award is a literary prize awarded to a British author under the age of 35 for a published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. It is administered by the Society of Authors and ha ...

. His second book, ''The Music Room'' (2009), is his memoir of growing up in an English castle with an elder brother, Richard, who suffered from severe epilepsy which caused mood swings and intermittent aggression, but who could also be very loving and creative. ''The Music Room'' was called "a small masterpiece, a tribute to the power of place, family and memory" by

Nicholas Shakespeare Nicholas William Richmond Shakespeare FRSL (born 3 March 1957) is a British novelist and biographer, described by the ''Wall Street Journal'' as "one of the best English novelists of our time". Biography Born in Worcester, England to diplomat ...

, who reviewed it for ''the Telegraph''. It was shortlisted for the

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, the ...

, the

Duff Cooper Prize The Duff Cooper Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or occasionally poetry, published in English or French. The prize was established in honour of Duff Cooper, a British diplomat, Ca ...

, the

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 ...

, the PEN/Ackerley Prize and the Independent Booksellers' Book of the Year Award. Fiennes has also written for ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'', the '' London Review of Books'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', the '' Daily Telegraph'' and the ''

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 ...

''. In 2011, Fiennes contributed a short fable, "Why the Ash has Black Buds", to an anthology titled ''Why Willows Weep''. Sales from the book raised funds for

The Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tr ...

and its mission to plant native trees throughout Great Britain. In 2018, he contributed a chapter to the book ''Beneath the Skin: Great Writers on the Body'' (Profile Books). The chapter is about two years in his early 20s when the chronic illness Crohn's disease forced him to live with part of his

intestines The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

protruding outside of his abdominal cavity through a surgical incision. First diagnosed at the age of nineteen, he has undergone several surgeries and hospitalisations over the years and in 2009, he called his struggle with Crohn's "exhausting and demoralising".

Other work

Fiennes spent two years as

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in the

Creative Arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford along the River Cherwell, Wolfson is an all-graduate college with around sixty governing body fellows, in addition to both research a ...

and in 2007, he was named Writer-in-Residence at the American School in London and at Cranford Community College,

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

. Since 2011, he has taught Creative Writing at Newcastle University.

Personal life

William Fiennes is a second cousin of the explorer

Sir Ranulph Fiennes Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records. Fiennes served in the ...

and a distant relative of the travel writer

Celia Fiennes Celia Fiennes (7 June 1662 – 10 April 1741) was an English traveller and writer. She explored England on horseback at a time when travel for its own sake was unusual, especially for women. Early life Born at Newton Tony, Wiltshire,"June 7t ...

(1662–1741). He is a third cousin of the actors

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

and

Joseph Fiennes Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history". Fiennes is particu ...

. He plays

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

as a member of the Authors XI team of British writers and contributed a chapter, "Cricket and Memory" (which concludes with him breaking his collarbone while diving to make a catch), to the team's 2013 book about their first year together, ''The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon''. Team captain Charlie Campbell describes Fiennes in the book as "the best fielder in the side and the most stylish batsman", while teammate Jon Hotten calls him "undoubtedly the nicest man in cricket". In 2007, Fiennes co-founded the charity

First Story First Story is an English non-profit organisation that encourages young people to write creatively, outside the curriculum, for self-expression, pleasure and agency. Its stated mission is to empower young people from low-income communities to find ...

, which brings acclaimed authors to secondary schools in low-income communities, where they run writing workshops for students to foster creativity. He was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009.

References

External links

William Fiennes website

First Story website

Broughton Castle website

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/books/24fiennes.html?ref=arts Recalling a Home that Really Is a Castle, Sarah Lyall, The New York Times, 23 September 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiennes, William 1970 births Living people People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Eton College Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English autobiographers English travel writers 21st-century British writers Younger sons of barons

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...