Summary
Susan Hilary Spurling (née Forrest; born 25 December 1940) is a British writer, known for her work as a journalist and biographer.
Hilary Spurling | |
|---|---|
| Born | Susan Hilary Forrest 25 December 1940 |
| Alma mater | Somerville College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Rose Mary Crawshay Prize Duff Cooper Prize Whitbread Prize James Tait Black Memorial Prize |
Early life and education
editBorn in Stockport, Cheshire,[1] to circuit judge Gilbert Alexander Forrest (1912–1977)[2] and teacher Emily Maureen, daughter of Joseph Armstrong, of Fivemiletown, County Tyrone,[3][4] Spurling was educated at Clifton High School, an independent school in Bristol, South-West England, and then at Somerville College, Oxford.[5][6]
Career
editSpurling won the Whitbread Prize for the second volume of her biography of Henri Matisse in January 2006.[7]Burying The Bones: Pearl Buck in China was published in March 2010.[8]
Personal life
editIn 1961, she married playwright John Spurling.[6] The couple have three children (Amy, Nathaniel, and Gilbert).[9]
Works
edit- Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919 (1974)
- Mervyn Peake: Drawings (1974), editor
- Invitation to the Dance: A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time (1977)
- Secrets of a Woman's Heart: The Later Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1920–1969 (1984)
- Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking (1986)
- Paul Scott: A Life (1990)
- Paper Spirits. Collage Portraits by Vladimir Sulyagin (1992), introduction
- Ivy: The Life of I. Compton-Burnett (1995; combines two volumes originally published separately in 1974 and 1984)
- The Unknown Matisse: Volume 1 – A Life of Henri Matisse 1869–1908 (1998)
- La Grande Thérèse: The Greatest Swindle of the Century (1999) on Thérèse Humbert
- The Girl from the Fiction Department: A Portrait of Sonia Orwell (2002)
- Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909–1954 (2005)
- Ann Stokes: Artists' Potter (contributor) (2009)
- Matisse: The Life (abridged version of two earlier works) (2009)
- Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China (2010)
- Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time (2017)[10]
Awards
edit- 1976, Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919
- 1984, Duff Cooper Prize for Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919
- 2005, Whitbread Book of the Year award for Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909–1954
- 2010, James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography, for Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China[11]
References
edit- ^ World Authors, 1985–1990, ed. Vineta Colby, H. W. Wilson Ltd, 1995, p. 842.
- ^ Who was Who: A Cumulated Index 1897–2000, A. & C. Black, 2002, p. 289.
- ^ The Solicitors' Journal, vol. 121, 1977, p. 648.
- ^ Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 95th edition, Kelly's Directories Ltd, 1969, p. 764.
- ^ Biography of Hilary Spurling, The Guardian
- ^ a b International Who's Who of Writers and Authors, 23rd edition, Europa Publications, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008, p. 685.
- ^ Ezard, John (25 January 2006). "Secret life of Matisse wins Whitbread prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ^ Shuyun, Sun (17 April 2010). "Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ^ Kirkpatrick, Kirk; Vinson, James, eds. (1988). "Spurling, John". Contemporary Dramatists (Fourth ed.). Chicago and London: St. James Press. p. 500. ISBN 0912289627.
- ^ Mabb, David. (2023). Return to Hilary Spurling's Dancing to the Music of Time (2017). Anthony Powell Newsletter 90 (spring): 3-16.
- ^ "Dazzling tale of Ms Saigon takes top award". The Scotsman. 20 August 2011.
External links
edit- British Council page