Chrissie Glazebrook, adopted as Christine Ann Wright (19 March 1945 – 7 December 2007) was a British writer, known for her novel ''The Madolescents'' (2001).

Early life and marriage

Glazebrook was adopted at 8 weeks by Mary and Ernest Wright and brought up in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...

. She was educated at Cannock Grammar School and then did a secretarial course. She married in the late 1960s and moved to

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. She was divorced a few years later.

Career

Before her writing career, Glazebrook had a number of jobs, including in a zoo and managing a vegetarian restaurant. She also worked at the

Stephen Joseph Theatre The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain. In 1955, Joseph established a tiny theatre in the round on the ...

. From 1982 to 1990 she worked as a freelance writer and broadcaster. She wrote for the magazine '' Jackie''. She produced ''Flavour of the Month'', a cookery programme, for

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchisee for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stu ...

, and also worked as a television presenter for Tyne Tees. In 1991 Glazebrook became an Arts Administrator at

Northern Arts The regional arts boards (formerly regional arts associations) were English regional subdivisions of the Arts Council of Great Britain History As the Arts Council began to move away from organising art activities in the 1950s, regional offices i ...

. She was one of the founders of ProudWORDS, a gay and lesbian literature festival. In 1998 Glazebrook completed an MA in creative writing at

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

. Her first novel, ''The Madolescents'', was published in 2001. Ray French said of the teenage narrator that "Rowena's cynical, fragile, vulgar voice is a delight". Glazebrook was part of a network of Northern writers, particularly women, including Julia Darling.

Illness and death

Glazebrook had depression. In 2006 she was diagnosed with

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

and

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

. She died the following year in Scarborough, supported by her family.

Selected works

Glazebrook's publications include: * ''The Pocket Guide to Men'' (1986) * "The Full Monty", in ''Biting Back : new fiction from the North'', (ed) Kitty Fitzgerald (IRON, 2001) * ''The Madolescents'' (Heinemann/Arrow, 2002) * ''Blue Spark Sisters'' (Heinemann/Arrow, 2003)

References

External links

Shuffling Off – author's blog

The Madolescents discussed on Radio 4's Open Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glazebrook, Chrissie 1945 births 2007 deaths English adoptees Deaths from liver cancer in England Deaths from colorectal cancer in England British women short story writers English women novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century British short story writers People with mood disorders People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district) People from the Black Country Alumni of Northumbria University People educated at Cannock Chase High School Writers from Scarborough, North Yorkshire British writers with disabilities