Salley Vickers
Encyclopedia
Salley Vickers is an English novelist whose works include the word-of-mouth bestseller Miss Garnet's Angel, Mr. Golightly's Holiday, The Other Side of You and Where Three Roads Meet, a retelling of the Oedipus myth to Sigmund Freud
in the last months of his life. She also writes poetry.
Her mother was a social worker and her father a trades union leader, both members of the British communist party until 1956 and then very committed socialists. She was brought up in Stoke-on-Trent
and London
, and read English Literature at Cambridge University. Following this, she taught children with special needs and then English literature at Stanford, Oxford and the Open University
and was a WEA
and further education tutor for adult education classes.
She then trained as an Jungian
analytical psychotherapist, working in the NHS
and also specialised in helping people who were creatively blocked. She gave up her psychoanalytic work in 2002, although she still lectures on the connections between literature and psychology
. She now writes full time and lives in London.
Her father was a committed supporter of Irish republicanism and her first name, 'Salley', is spelled with an 'e' because it is the Irish for 'willow
' (from the Latin: salix, salicis) as in the W B Yeats
poem, "Down by the salley gardens" a favourite of her parents.
She has two sons from her first marriage. In 2002, her second marriage, to the Irish writer and broadcaster Frank Delaney
, was dissolved.
In 2002, she was a judge for the Booker Prize for Fiction.
Forthcoming:-
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
in the last months of his life. She also writes poetry.
Her mother was a social worker and her father a trades union leader, both members of the British communist party until 1956 and then very committed socialists. She was brought up in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
and 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...
, and read English Literature at Cambridge University. Following this, she taught children with special needs and then English literature at Stanford, Oxford and the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
and was a WEA
Workers' Educational Association
The Workers’ Educational Association seeks to provide access to education and lifelong learning for adults from all backgrounds, and in particular those who have previously missed out on education. The International Federation of Workers Education Associations has consultative status to UNESCO...
and further education tutor for adult education classes.
She then trained as an Jungian
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
analytical psychotherapist, working in the NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
and also specialised in helping people who were creatively blocked. She gave up her psychoanalytic work in 2002, although she still lectures on the connections between literature and psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. She now writes full time and lives in London.
Her father was a committed supporter of Irish republicanism and her first name, 'Salley', is spelled with an 'e' because it is the Irish for 'willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
' (from the Latin: salix, salicis) as in the W B Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
poem, "Down by the salley gardens" a favourite of her parents.
She has two sons from her first marriage. In 2002, her second marriage, to the Irish writer and broadcaster Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney is an Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He's the author of New York Times best-seller "Ireland", the non-fiction book "Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea", and many other works of fiction, non-fiction and collections...
, was dissolved.
In 2002, she was a judge for the Booker Prize for Fiction.
Novels
- Miss Garnet’s Angel (first published 2000)
- Instances of the Number 3 (2001)
- Mr Golightly’s Holiday (2003)
- The Other Side of You (2006)
- Where Three Roads Meet (2007) (part of the Canongate Myth SeriesCanongate Myth SeriesCanongate Myth Series is a series of short novels in which ancient myths from myriad cultures are reimagined and rewritten by contemporary authors. The project was conceived in 1999 by Jamie Byng, owner of the independent foundation Scottish publisher Canongate Books, and the first three titles in...
) - Dancing Backwards (2009)
- Aphrodite's Hat, The Collected Stories of Salley Vickers (November 2010)
Forthcoming:-
- Sweet and Comfortable Words