Clare Wigfall (born 1976 in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, London) is a British writer. Her debut collection of short stories, ''The Loudest Sound and Nothing'', was published in 2007 and longlisted for the

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented betwe ...

. She won the

BBC National Short Story Award The BBC National Short Story Award (known as the National Short Story Award in 2006 and 2007) has been described as "one of the most prestigious wardsfor a single short story" and the richest prize in the world for a single short story. It is an ...

in 2008.

Biography

Wigfall was born in London in 1976. Her father was an architect, who was posted to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

when Wigfall was two and a half. The family lived there for five years before moving back to London. She was educated at

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. Founded in 1741, it is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain, with ...

. She completed a foundation year at

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

. She graduated from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 1998 with a degree in English and American Literature. She then completed an MA in creative writing at 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 ...

, where she was awarded the Curtis Brown prize. She has lived in Prague and Edinburgh and currently lives in Berlin with her husband and three children. Her early jobs include working as assistant and editor to the then-president of Mensa and working in an art gallery. She has taught creative writing for two decades for establishments including 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 ...

and

Akademie Schloss Solitude The Akademie Schloss Solitude is a foundation under public law. The main aspect of the Akademie is to promote mainly younger, particularly gifted artists and scientists by means of residency fellowships and also by organizing events and exhibitio ...

and is currently a lecturer at

Bard College Berlin Bard College Berlin (formerly known as ECLA or European College of Liberal Arts) is a private, non-profit institution of higher education in Berlin, Germany. It was founded as a non-profit association in 1999. Courses are taught in the English la ...

. She was shortlisted for the 2023 European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Social Sciences and Humanities. She was awarded a fellowship at the Kyoto Writers Residency in 2024.

Writing career

While Wigfall was studying at East Anglia,

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

offered her a book contract based on reading three unpublished stories. Almost a decade later in 2008, her debut collection, ''The Loudest Sound and Nothing'', was published by Faber. The collection was longlisted for the 2008

. Wigfall has said that music was a large influence on this debut collection. She cites the

Dirty Three Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis (musician), Warren Ellis (violin, keyboards), Mick Turner (electric guitar, organ and bass) and Jim White (drummer), Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their ...

, John Fahey,

Jolie Holland Jolie Holland (born September 11, 1975) is an American singer and performer who combines elements of folk, traditional, experimental, and rock. Career Growing up in her birthplace of Houston, Texas, Holland left in 1994, moving to Austin, Ne ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Son ...

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. Born in ...

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Rachel's Rachel's was an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist Jason Noble played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with core members violist Ch ...

and Six Organs of Admittance as influencing individual stories. In 2008, Wigfall won the

for "The Numbers", one of the stories from her collection. The story is set in the Outer Hebrides and follows a woman who recites numbers to avoid bad luck. The story was inspired by American anthropologist

Margaret Fay Shaw Margaret Fay Shaw (9 November 1903 – 11 December 2004) was a pioneering Scottish-American ethnomusicologist, photographer, folklorist, and scholar of Celtic studies. She is best known for her meticulous work as a folk song and folklore collect ...

, who studied the folklore and traditions of the Outer Hebrides. In 2010, Wigfall received a K. Blundell Trust grant, awarded to writers under 40 for raising social consciousness through writing. In 2011, Wigfall was longlisted for the

Sunday Times Short Story Award The Sunday Times Short Story Award, also known as the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and later the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, was a British literary award for a single short story open to any novelist or short story writer from ...

for her story "Professor Arvind". Her stories have also been published in ''

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

'', ''

New Writing ''New Writing'' was a popular literary periodical in book format founded in 1936 by John Lehmann and committed to anti-fascism.''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 1 – An Age Like This 1939–1940'', p. 250. ...

'', ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

'', and ''

The Dublin Review ''The Dublin Review'' is a quarterly magazine that publishes essays, reportage, autobiography, travel writing, criticism and fiction. It was launched in December 2000 by Brendan Barrington, who remains the editor and publisher, assisted by Nora M ...

'' and commissioned for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. In 2011, she published a picture book, ''Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?'', and was BookTrust's fifth online

Writer in Residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

Works

Short story collection

* ''The Loudest Sound and Nothing'', Faber & Faber, 2007, ISBN 978-0571196302

For children

* ''Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?'', with Ollie Lett, Walker Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1406313895

As contributor

* ''The BBC National Short Story Award 2008'', Short Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1906021603 * ''Sex and Death: Stories'', edited Sarah Hall and Peter Hobbs, Faber & Faber, 2016, ISBN 978-0571322428

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigfall, Clare 1976 births Living people People educated at James Allen's Girls' School Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of East Anglia British women short story writers