Blake Morrison
Encyclopedia
Philip Blake Morrison is a British
poet
and author
who has published in a wide range of fiction
and non-fiction
genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography
. He has also written a study of the James Bulger
murder, As If. Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
.
, North Yorkshire
, to an English father and an Irish mother. His parents were both physicians; his mother's maiden name was Agnes O'Shea, but her husband persuaded her to change "Agnes" to "Kim". The details of his mother's life in Ireland, to which he had not been privy, formed the basis for his autobiographical novel, Things My Mother Never Told Me.
Blake Morrison attended Ermysted's Grammar School
before going on to study English Literature at the University of Nottingham
and UCL
. He worked for the Times Literary Supplement (1978-81)' and was literary editor of both The Observer
(1981-89) and the Independent on Sunday (1989-95). Morrison's early writing career outside of journalism was as a poet and poetry critic. He became a full-time writer in 1995 and has since produced novels and volumes of autobiography as well as plays, libretti, and writing for television. He has contributed articles to The New Yorker
, the London Review of Books
, the New Statesman
, the New York Times and Poetry Review and since 2001 he has written regularly for The Guardian
. In 2003 he became Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College
, London, and in 2008 he became Chair of The Reader Organisation, the UK centre for research and promotion of reading as a therapeutic activity.
Morrison is married, with three children. His family live in Blackheath
, London
. He is a keen supporter of Burnley Football Club.
, 1980). This was followed in 1982 by a critical guide to Seamus Heaney
's poetry. Also in 1982 he co-edited The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry with Andrew Motion
. His first book of poetry, Dark Glasses was published by Chatto and Windus
in 1984. Other published works include Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper (1986), written in Yorkshire dialect and Pendle Witches (1996), illustrated with etching
s by Paula Rego
. His poems have also appeared in several anthologies, including Penguin Modern Poets 1 (1995).
His first novel was The Justification of Johann Gutenberg (Chatto & Windus, 2000); his most recent South of the River was published in April 2007.
has been made into a film starring Jim Broadbent
as his father, Juliet Stevenson
as his mother, Gina McKee
as his wife, Sarah Lancashire
as Aunty Beaty, and Colin Firth
and Matthew Beard
playing Blake Morrison himself as an adult and teenager, respectively.
It was directed by Anand Tucker
, produced by Elizabeth Karlsson, with a screenplay by David Nicholls
. Filming took place in Cromford
, Derbyshire
, and the surrounding area. The film was released in 2007.
The TV series of his new novel South of the River is being made by World Productions
and adapted by acclaimed screenwriter
Danny Brocklehurst
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
who has published in a wide range of fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
and non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography
J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography
The J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography is awarded annually by the English Centre for International PEN to given to a literary autobiography of excellence, written by an author of British nationality and published during the preceding year. The winner receives £1,000 and a silver pen. The winner...
. He has also written a study of the James Bulger
James Bulger
James Bulger may refer to:* James Patrick Bulger, toddler murdered by two ten-year-old boys in Liverpool, England, in 1993* James J. "Whitey" Bulger, alleged American gang leader...
murder, As If. Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
.
Life and career
Morrison was born in SkiptonSkipton
Skipton is a market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the course of both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, on the south side of the Yorkshire Dales, northwest of Bradford and west of York...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, to an English father and an Irish mother. His parents were both physicians; his mother's maiden name was Agnes O'Shea, but her husband persuaded her to change "Agnes" to "Kim". The details of his mother's life in Ireland, to which he had not been privy, formed the basis for his autobiographical novel, Things My Mother Never Told Me.
Blake Morrison attended Ermysted's Grammar School
Ermysted's Grammar School
Ermysteds Grammar School is a LEA-funded selective boys' Grammar School in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England, teaching over 800 pupils.It is the seventh oldest state school in Britain and was founded by Peter Toller in the 15th century. The first official record of the school was seen in Peter...
before going on to study English Literature at the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
and UCL
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He worked for the Times Literary Supplement (1978-81)' and was literary editor of both The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
(1981-89) and the Independent on Sunday (1989-95). Morrison's early writing career outside of journalism was as a poet and poetry critic. He became a full-time writer in 1995 and has since produced novels and volumes of autobiography as well as plays, libretti, and writing for television. He has contributed articles to The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, the New York Times and Poetry Review and since 2001 he has written regularly for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. In 2003 he became Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...
, London, and in 2008 he became Chair of The Reader Organisation, the UK centre for research and promotion of reading as a therapeutic activity.
Morrison is married, with three children. His family live in Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He is a keen supporter of Burnley Football Club.
Published works
His first book was The Movement: English Poetry and Fiction of the 1950s (Oxford University PressOxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1980). This was followed in 1982 by a critical guide to Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
's poetry. Also in 1982 he co-edited The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry with Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion
Sir Andrew Motion, FRSL is an English poet, novelist and biographer, who presided as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.- Life and career :...
. His first book of poetry, Dark Glasses was published by Chatto and Windus
Chatto and Windus
Chatto & Windus has been, since 1987, an imprint of Random House, publishers. It was originally an important publisher of books in London, founded in the Victorian era....
in 1984. Other published works include Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper (1986), written in Yorkshire dialect and Pendle Witches (1996), illustrated with etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s by Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego is a painter born in Portugal although she is a naturalised British citizen.-Biography:Rego was born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the daughter of an electrical engineer who worked for the Marconi Company. Although this gave her a comfortable middle class home, the family was...
. His poems have also appeared in several anthologies, including Penguin Modern Poets 1 (1995).
His first novel was The Justification of Johann Gutenberg (Chatto & Windus, 2000); his most recent South of the River was published in April 2007.
Film
And When Did You Last See Your Father?And When Did You Last See Your Father?
And When Did You Last See Your Father? is a 2007 British drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by David Nicholls is based on the 1993 memoir of the same title by Blake Morrison.-Plot:...
has been made into a film starring Jim Broadbent
Jim Broadbent
James "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
as his father, Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
as his mother, Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
as his wife, Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire
Sarah Lancashire is an English actress, probably best recognised for her role as Raquel Watts in Coronation Street. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1986.-Television:...
as Aunty Beaty, and Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
and Matthew Beard
Matthew Beard (British actor)
Matthew Beard is an English film, model and television actor, best known for his role as Blake Morrison in the 2007 film And When Did You Last See Your Father?.-Life and career:Beard was born in London, England...
playing Blake Morrison himself as an adult and teenager, respectively.
It was directed by Anand Tucker
Anand Tucker
Anand Tucker is a film director and producer based in London. He began his career directing factual television programming and adverts...
, produced by Elizabeth Karlsson, with a screenplay by David Nicholls
David Nicholls (writer)
-Background:Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended Barton Peveril sixth-form college at Eastleigh, Hampshire, from 1983 to 1985 , and playing a wide range of roles in college drama productions...
. Filming took place in Cromford
Cromford
Cromford is a village, two miles to the south of Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright, and the Cromford Mill which he built here in 1771...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, and the surrounding area. The film was released in 2007.
The TV series of his new novel South of the River is being made by World Productions
World Productions
World Productions is a British television production company, founded in the early 1990s by acclaimed producer Tony Garnett. The company's first major series was the police drama Between The Lines , and throughout the decade they went on to produce a succession of highly successful drama series...
and adapted by acclaimed screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Danny Brocklehurst
Danny Brocklehurst
Danny Brocklehurst is a BAFTA and International Emmy -winning English screenwriter. Brocklehurst worked as a journalist for several years before becoming a full-time screenwriter.He has written acclaimed television drama...
.
Awards
- 1980 Eric Gregory AwardEric Gregory AwardThe Eric Gregory Award is given by the Society of Authors to British poets under 30 on submission. The awards are up to a sum value of £24000 annually....
- 1985 Dylan Thomas Award
- 1985 Somerset Maugham AwardSomerset Maugham AwardThe Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. It is awarded to whom they judge to be the best writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a book published in the past year. The prize was instituted in 1947 by William Somerset Maugham and thus...
for Dark Glasses - 1988 E. M. Forster AwardE. M. Forster AwardThe E. M. Forster Award is a $20,000 award given annually to an Irish or British writer to fund a period of travel in the United States. The award, named after the English novelist E. M. Forster, is administered by the American Academy of Arts and Letters...
- 1993 Esquire/Volvo/Waterstone's Non-Fiction Book Award for And When Did You Last See Your Father?
- 1994 J.R. Ackerley Prize for AutobiographyJ. R. Ackerley Prize for AutobiographyThe J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography is awarded annually by the English Centre for International PEN to given to a literary autobiography of excellence, written by an author of British nationality and published during the preceding year. The winner receives £1,000 and a silver pen. The winner...
for And When Did You Last See Your Father?