Carol Birch (born 1951) is an English novelist, lecturer and book critic. She also teaches creative writing.

Life

Birch was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. Her parents had met in a wartime armaments factory. Her father, a metallurgist, also played trombone in a Manchester jazz band known as The Saints. She took English and American Studies at

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

. After a period in the

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

area of London (which would be the setting for her first novel), she moved to

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland, with her first husband, an artist, taking his name Birch and turning to writing, but she returned to London, where the marriage ended. Birch and her second husband, Martin Butler, moved back to the North West in 1989. She currently lives with her family in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, where her husband teaches at

Lancaster and Morecambe College Lancaster and Morecambe College is a further education College situated on Torrisholme Road, between Lancaster and Morecambe, Lancashire, England. The college has been providing the local area with access to further and higher education since ...

Awards

The author of twelve novels, Birch won the 1988 David Higham Award for the Best First Novel of the Year for ''Life in the Palace'', and the

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Iri ...

with ''The Fog Line'' in 1991; Her novel ''Turn Again Home'' was on the long list for the 2003

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

. Her novel ''Jamrach's Menagerie'' was long-listed for the

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

2011, and shortlisted for the

2011, and an extract from it appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. In 2014, Birch was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

Influences

Among the working-class writers to whom Birch acknowledges a debt are the fellow Lancastrians

Shelagh Delaney Shelagh Delaney FRSL (; 25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, '' A Taste of Honey'' (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war B ...

and

Louis Golding Louis Golding (19 November 1895 – 9 August 1958) was an English writer, famous in his time especially for his novels, though he is now largely neglected; he wrote also short stories, essays, fantasies, travel books, and poetry. Life Born in ...

, and the Welshman

Howard Spring Howard Spring (10 February 1889 – 3 May 1965) was a Welsh author and journalist. He began his writing career as a journalist but from 1934 produced a series of best-selling novels for adults and children. The most successful was '' Fame Is t ...

. Several of her novels have been translated into German, and ''Jamrach's Menagerie'' into Romanian. Birch also teaches creative writing and contributes reviews to a number of newspapers.King's Lynn Literary Festivals 201
Retrieved 18 December 2014.
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Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Carol 1951 births Living people 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers Alumni of Keele University English women novelists Writers from Lancaster, Lancashire Writers from Manchester