It
is hard to categorise Kate Atkinson’s work, however it is
often described as ‘tragi-comedy’. Her books are exotic and
highly entertaining hybrids, frequently incorporating romance,
satire, humour, hard-boiled detective fiction, and tolkeinesque
sagas, and playing very effectively with shifting time and
eccentric characters that feel very real. Some critics see
Kate as having developed a new fiction genre: the anti-family
saga. Some go as far as to compare them with a well-known
Philip Larkin poem, in that her narrators find the first half
of their lives ruined by parents and the second half by their
children! Certainly in her books she exposes many painful
truths often brushed under the carpet of family history, such
as infidelity, illegitimacy, violence, sexual abuse, even
incest. However, she deals with these meaty issues with humour
and her books are wonderful.
Kate Atkinson currently lives in Edinburgh,
and is an occasional contributor to newspapers and magazines.
She has two grown-up daughters.
Bibliography:
Behind the Scenes at the Museum, 1995, publishers Doubleday
and Black Swan
Human Croquet, 1997, publishers Doubleday and Black Swan
Abandonment (A Play), 2000, publisher Nick Hern Books.
Emotionally Weird, 2000, publishers Doubleday and Black Swan
Not the End of the World (Collection of short stories), 2002,
publishers Doubleday and Black Swan
Case Histories, 2004, publishers Doubleday and Black Swan
One Good Turn, 2006, publishers Doubleday and Black Swan
When Will There Be Good News?, 2009, publisher Black Swan
Kate Atkinson has also written two plays for the Traverse
Theatre in Edinburgh: a short play, Nice (1996), and Abandonment,
which premiered as part of the Edinburgh Festival in August
2000.
Prizes and Awards:
1986 Woman's Own Short Story Competition
1990 Bridport Short Story Prize (runner-up)
1993 Ian St James Award (short story competition) with Karmic
Mothers
1995 Whitbread Book of the Year with Behind the Scenes at
the Museum
1996 Lire Book of the Year (France) with Behind the Scenes
at the Museum
1996 Yorkshire Post Book Award (Best First Work) with Behind
the Scenes at the Museum
1997 E. M. Forster Award (American Academy of Arts and Letters)
2004 Whitbread Novel Award (shortlist) with Case Histories
2007 British Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year (shortlist)
with One Good Turn |