Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

, and picaresque works. She is mainly known for her book '' The Bloody Chamber'' (1979). In 1984, her short story " The Company of Wolves" was adapted into a film of the same name. In 2008, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' ranked Carter tenth in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In 2012, ''

Nights at the Circus ''Nights at the Circus'' is a novel by British writer Angela Carter, first published in 1984 in literature, 1984 and the winner of the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of Sophie Fevve ...

'' was selected as the best ever winner of the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

Biography

Born Angela Olive Stalker in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, in 1940, to Sophia Olive (née Farthing; 1905–1969), a cashier at Selfridge's, and journalist Hugh Alexander Stalker (1896–1988), Carter was evacuated as a child to live in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

with her maternal grandmother. After attending Streatham and Clapham High School, in south London, she began work as a journalist on '' The Croydon Advertiser'', following in her father's footsteps. Carter attended the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

where she studied English literature. She married twice, first in 1960 to Paul Carter, ultimately divorcing in 1972. In 1969, she used the proceeds of her Somerset Maugham Award to leave her husband and relocate for two years to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where, she claims in ''Nothing Sacred'' (1982), that she "learnt what it is to be a woman and became radicalised". She wrote about her experiences there in articles for ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and s ...

'' and in a collection of short stories, '' Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces'' (1974). Evidence of her experiences in Japan can also be seen in '' The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' (1972). She then explored the United States, Asia, and Europe, helped by her fluency in French and German. She spent much of the late 1970s and 1980s as a writer-in-residence at universities, including the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. In 1977, Carter met Mark Pearce, with whom she had one son and whom she eventually married shortly before her death in 1992. In 1979, both '' The Bloody Chamber'', and her feminist essay '' The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography'' were published. In ''The Bloody Chamber'', she rewrote traditional

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

so as to subvert their essentializing tendencies. In her 1985 interview with Helen Cagney, Carter said, “So, I suppose that what interests me is the way these fairy tales and folklore are methods of making sense of events and certain occurrences in a particular way.” Sarah Gamble, therefore, argued that Carter’s book is a manifestation of her materialism, that is, “her desire to bring fairy tale back down to earth in order to demonstrate how it could be used to explore the real conditions of everyday life". In ''The Sadeian Woman'', according to the writer

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...

, Carter "deconstructs the arguments that underlie ''The Bloody Chamber''. It's about desire and its destruction, the self-immolation of women, how women collude and connive with their condition of enslavement. She was much more independent-minded than the traditional feminist of her time." As well as being a prolific writer of fiction, Carter contributed many articles to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', collected in ''Shaking a Leg''. She adapted a number of her short stories for radio and wrote two original

radio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

on Richard Dadd and Ronald Firbank. Two of her works of fiction have been adapted for film: '' The Company of Wolves'' (1984) and '' The Magic Toyshop'' (1967). She was actively involved in both adaptations; her screenplays were subsequently published in '' The Curious Room'', a collection of her dramatic writings, including radio scripts and a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for an opera based on

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

's '' Orlando''. Carter's novel ''

'' won the 1984

for literature. Her 1991 novel '' Wise Children'' offers a surreal ride through British theatre and

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

traditions. Carter died aged 51 in 1992 at her home in London after developing

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. At the time of her death, she had started work on a sequel to

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

's ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' based on the later life of Jane's stepdaughter, Adèle Varens; only a synopsis survives.

Works

Novels

*'' Shadow Dance'' (1966, also known as ''Honeybuzzard'') *'' The Magic Toyshop'' (1967) *'' Several Perceptions'' (1968) *'' Heroes and Villains'' (1969) *''

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

'' (1971) *'' The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' (1972, also known as ''The War of Dreams'') *'' The Passion of New Eve'' (1977) *''

'' (1984) *'' Wise Children'' (1991)

Short fiction collections

*'' Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces'' (1974; also published as ''Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises'' and ''Fireworks'') *'' The Bloody Chamber'' (1979) *"The Bridegroom" (1983) (Uncollected short story) *'' Black Venus'' (1985; published as ''Saints and Strangers'' in the United States) *'' American Ghosts and Old World Wonders'' (1993) *'' Burning Your Boats'' (1995)

Poetry collections

*''Five Quiet Shouters'' (1966) *''Unicorn'' (1966) *''Unicorn: The Poetry of Angela Carter'' (2015)

Dramatic works

*''Come Unto These Yellow Sands: Four Radio Plays'' (1985) *'' The Curious Room: Plays, Film Scripts and an Opera'' (1996) (includes Carter's screenplays for adaptations of '' The Company of Wolves'' and '' The Magic Toyshop''; also includes the contents of ''Come Unto These Golden Sands: Four Radio Plays'')

Children's books

*'' The Donkey Prince'' (1970, illustrated by Eros Keith) *'' Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady'' (1970, illustrated by Eros Keith) *'' Comic and Curious Cats'' (1979, illustrated by Martin Leman) *''Moonshadow'' (1982) illustrated by Justin Todd *''Sea-Cat and Dragon King'' (2000, illustrated by Eva Tatcheva)

Non-fiction

*'' The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography'' (1979) *''Nothing Sacred: Selected Writings'' (1982) *''Expletives Deleted: Selected Writings'' (1992) *''Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writing'' (1997) She wrote two entries in "A Hundred Things Japanese" published in 1975 by the Japan Culture Institute. It says "She has lived in Japan both from 1969 to 1971 and also during 1974" (p. 202).

As editor

*''Wayward Girls and Wicked Women: An Anthology of Subversive Stories'' (1986) *''The Virago Book of Fairy Tales'' (1990) a.k.a. ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'' *''The Second Virago Book of Fairy Tales'' (1992) a.k.a. ''Strange Things Sometimes Still Happen: Fairy Tales From Around the World'' (1993) *''Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales'' (2005) (collects the two books above)

As translator

*''The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault'' (1977) *''Sleeping Beauty and Other Favourite Fairy Tales'' (1982) illustrated by Michael Foreman ( Perrault stories with two by Leprince de Beaumont)

Film adaptations

*'' The Company of Wolves'' (1984) adapted by Carter with

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

from her

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

of the same name, " Wolf-Alice" and " The Werewolf" *'' The Magic Toyshop'' (1987) adapted by Carter from her

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

of the same name, and directed by David Wheatley

Radio plays

*''Vampirella'' (1976) written by Carter and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC. Formed the basis for the short story " The Lady of the House of Love". *''Come Unto These Yellow Sands'' (1979) *''The Company of Wolves'' (1980) adapted by Carter from her

of the same name, and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC *''Puss-in-Boots'' (1982) adapted by Carter from her

and directed by Glyn Dearman for BBC *''A Self-Made Man'' (1984)

Television

*'' The Holy Family Album'' (1991) *'' Omnibus: Angela Carter's Curious Room'' (1992)

Analysis and critique

* Published online as "Angela Carter's feminist mythology". *Crofts, Charlotte, ''"Curiously downbeat hybrid" or "radical retelling"? – Neil Jordan's and Angela Carter's ''The Company of Wolves''.'' In Cartmell, Deborah, I. Q. Hunter, Heidi Kaye and Imelda Whelehan (eds), ''Sisterhoods Across the Literature Media Divide'', London: Pluto Press, 1998, pp. 48–63.] *Crofts, Charlotte, '' Anagrams of Desire, Anagrams of Desire: Angela Carter's Writing for Radio, Film and Television''. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003. *Crofts, Charlotte
''‘The Other of the Other’: Angela Carter's ‘New-Fangled’ Orientalism''
In Munford, Rebecca ''Re-Visiting Angela Carter Texts, Contexts, Intertexts.'' London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, pp. 87–109. *Dimovitz, Scott A.
''Angela Carter: Surrealist, Psychologist, Moral Pornographer''
New York: Routledge, 2016. *Dimovitz, Scott A. "I Was the Subject of the Sentence Written on the Mirror: Angela Carter's Short Fiction and the Unwriting of the Psychoanalytic Subject". ''Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory'' 21.1 (2010): 1–19. *Dimovitz, Scott A., "Angela Carter's Narrative Chiasmus: ''The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman'' and ''The Passion of New Eve''". ''Genre'' XVII (2009): 83–111. *Dimovitz, Scott A., "Cartesian Nuts: Rewriting the Platonic Androgyne in Angela Carter's Japanese Surrealism". ''FEMSPEC: An Interdisciplinary Feminist Journal'', 6:2 (December 2005): 15–31. *Dmytriieva, Valeriia V., "Gender Alterations in English and French Modernist 'Bluebeard' Fairytale". ''English Language and literature studies'', 6:3. (2016): 16–20. * *Gordon, Edmund
''The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography''
London: Chatto & Windus, 2016. *Kérchy, Anna
''Body-Texts in the Novels of Angela Carter. Writing from a Corporeagraphic Perspective''
Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008. *Milne, Andrew
''The Bloody Chamber d'Angela Carter''
Paris: Editions Le Manuscrit, Université, 2006. *Milne, Andrew
''Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber: A Reader's Guide''
Paris: Editions Le Manuscrit Université, 2007. *Munford, Rebecca (ed.)
''Re-Visiting Angela Carter Texts, Contexts, Intertexts''
. London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. *Tonkin, Maggie, ''Angela Carter and Decadence: Critical Fictions/Fictional Critiques''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. *Topping, Angela
''Focus on The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories''
London: The Greenwich Exchange, 2009. * Wisker, Gina. "At Home all was Blood and Feathers: The Werewolf in the Kitchen - Angela Carter and Horror". In Clive Bloom (ed), ''Creepers: British Horror and Fantasy in the Twentieth Century''. London and Boulder CO: Pluto Press, 1993, pp. 161–75.

Commemoration

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

unveiled a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

at Carter's final home at 107, The Chase in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

, South London in September 2019. She wrote many of her books in the sixteen years she lived at the address, as well as tutoring the young

Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese-born English novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. He is one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary fiction authors writing in English, having been awarded several major literary prizes, including the 2 ...

. The

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

acquired the Angela Carter Papers in 2008, a large collection of 224 files and volumes containing manuscripts, correspondence, personal diaries, photographs, and audio cassettes. Angela Carter Close in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

is named after her.

In popular culture

The English rock band Wolf Alice takes its name from the short story of the same title, published in '' The Bloody Chamber'', which founder Ellie Rowsell supposedly stole from her school library. Another English band, The New Eves, is named for '' The Passion of New Eve'', which band members Kate Mager and Ella Russell were studying when they met at university.

References

External links

* *
Angela Carter's radio workAngela Carter
at the

*
BBC interview
(video, 25 June 1991, 25 mins) *

''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', 3 May 2010 *
Angela Carter in conversation
with Elizabeth Jolley, British Library (audio, 1988, 53 mins)
Angela Carter essay
on

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

, ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'', Vol. 2 No. 19 · 2 October 1980
"A Conversation with Angela Carter"
by Anna Katsavos, '' The Review of Contemporary Fiction'', Fall 1994, Vol. 14.3 1940 births 1992 deaths 20th-century English short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English translators 20th-century English poets 20th-century English screenwriters Academics of the University of East Anglia Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Bristol English women short story writers Deaths from lung cancer in England English feminist writers English short story writers English socialist feminists English women novelists James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners Magic realism writers People from Eastbourne British weird fiction writers English women science fiction and fantasy writers Writers from Sussex {{Authority control