Barbara (Louise) Trapido (born 1941 as Barbara Schuddeboom), is a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

born in South Africa with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Danish and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

ancestry. Born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and growing up in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

she studied at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

gaining a BA in 1963 before emigrating to London. After many years teaching, she became a full-time writer in 1970.Barbara Trapido
Trapido has published seven novels, three of which have been nominated for the

Whitbread Prize The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in United Kingdom, UK and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first ...

. Her semi-autobiographical ''Frankie & Stankie'', one of those

shortlisted A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

, which deals with growing up white under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, gained a great deal of critical attention, most of it favourable. It was also longlisted for the Booker prize. Barbara Trapido lives with her family in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and some of her books have Oxford connections.

Bibliography

*''Brother of the More Famous Jack'' (1982) *''Noah's Ark'' (1984) *''Temples of Delight'' (1990) *''

Juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

'' (1994) *''The Travelling Hornplayer'' (1998) *''Frankie & Stankie'' (2003) *''Sex & Stravinsky'' (2010)

Reviews

Frankie & Stankie
Observer newspaper

Telegraph newspaper

The Independent newspaper

External links

Barbara Trapido: Biography and critical perspective
from the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

.
"The awkward squad"
Trapido writes in ''

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 ...

'' newspaper about the process of creating a novel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trapido, Barbara 1941 births Living people Writers from Cape Town 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists South African women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Writers from Oxford University of Natal alumni British people of German descent South African emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Danish descent British people of Dutch descent 21st-century British women writers 20th-century British women writers