Charles Palliser (born December 11, 1947, in

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

) is an American-born and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-based novelist. His most well-known novel, ''

The Quincunx ''The Quincunx (The Inheritance of John Huffam)'' is the epic first novel of Charles Palliser. It takes the form of a Dickensian mystery set in early 19th century England, but Palliser has added the modern attributes of an ambiguous plot and u ...

'', has sold over a million copies internationally. He is the elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser.

Life and career

Born in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, Palliser is an American citizen but has lived in the United Kingdom since the age of three. He went to

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 ...

in 1967 to read English Language and Literature and took a First in June 1970. He was awarded the

BLitt BLitt may refer to: * Bachelor of Letters, a second bachelor's degree awarded in Australia, Brazil, UK, and US * Bachelor of Literature, the statutory bachelor's degree in literature studies awarded in China {{Disam ...

in 1975 for a dissertation on Modernist fiction. From 1974 until 1990, Palliser was a Lecturer in the Department of English at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He was the first Deputy Editor of ''

The Literary Review ''The Literary Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1957. Publication was suspended in 2022, and the website notes: "Given the extenuating circumstances and the impact of Covid-19 on institutions of higher education, we do not ...

'' when it was founded in 1979. He taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

during the Spring semester of 1986 at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. In 1990, he gave up his university post to become a full-time writer when his first novel, ''

'', became an international best-seller. He teaches occasionally for the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, and Patricia Cumper is ...

, the

Skyros Skyros (, ), in some historical contexts Romanization of Greek, Latinized Scyros (, ), is an island in Greece. It is the southernmost island of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC, the island was known as ...

Institute, the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

, and

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

. He was Writer in Residence at the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France ...

in 1997.

Work

He has published five novels, which have been translated into a dozen languages; among them French, German, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Greek, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, and Russian. Palliser has also written for the theatre, radio, and television. His stage play, ''Week Nothing'', toured Scotland in 1980. His 90-minute radio play, ''The Journal of Simon Owen'', was commissioned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and twice broadcast on Radio 4 in June 1982. His short TV film, ''Obsessions: Writing'', was broadcast by the BBC and published by BBC Publications in 1991. His short radio play, ''Artist with Designs'', was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 21 February 2004. Since 1990, he has written the Introduction to a

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...

edition of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

stories; the foreword to a new French translation of

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...

’ ''

The Moonstone ''The Moonstone: A Romance'' by Wilkie Collins is an 1868 British epistolary novel. It is an early example of the modern detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. Its publication was started on 4 January 18 ...

'', published by

Éditions Phébus The éditions Phébus is a French publishing house established in 1976 by Jean-Pierre Sicre and taken over in 2003 by the . Catalogue Phébus publishes a catalog of French and foreign literature that is both contemporary (Julie Otsuka, Elif Sh ...

; and other articles on 19th century and contemporary fiction. He is a past member of the long-running North London Writers circl

Awards and nominations

In 1991, ''

'' was awarded the

Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction is an American literary award presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain ex ...

by the

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

, which is given for the best first novel published in North America. ''The Unburied'' was nominated for the 2001 International

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

Novels

* ''

: The Inheritance of John Huffam'' (Canongate 1989, and Ballantine 1990), * ''The Sensationist'' (Cape and Ballantine, 1991), * ''Betrayals'' (Cape and Ballantine, 1993) * ''The Unburied'' (Phoenix House and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999), * ''Rustication'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 2013), * ''Sufferance'' (Guernica World Editions, 2024) {{DEFAULTSORT:Palliser, Charles 1947 births Living people Rutgers University faculty British writers Academics of the University of London Academics of London Metropolitan University Academics of Middlesex University American male writers Writers from Holyoke, Massachusetts