John Francis ("Frank") Tuohy, (2 May 1925 – 11 April 1999) was an English writer and academic. Born in

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology "Uck ...

, Sussex, he attended

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

and went on to read Moral Sciences and English at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. On completion of his studies, he worked in numerous academic posts under the auspices of 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 ...

. This included postings in Finland, Brazil and Poland. In the 1950s, in the British Council School of São Paulo, Brazil, he ran a memorable course on The War Poets (WWI), introducing Stephen Spender and his contemporaries. He corresponded with Catholic nun, literary critic and poet M. Bernetta Quinn. His posting in Poland provided his inspiration for his 1965 novel ''The Ice Saints''. The book received considerable critical acclaim and was awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

. Tuohy died in

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, some southwest of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells, Somerset, Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

in 1999 at a time when he was working on the uncompleted manuscript for a new novel following many years of

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

Awards and distinctions

*Katherine Mansfield-Menton Prize (1959) *

(1964) *

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 ...

(1965) *Fellow, Royal Society of Literature (1965) * E. M. Forster Award (1972) * Heinemann Award (1979)

Works

*''The Admiral and the Nuns with Other Stories''. London, Macmillan, 1962; New York, Scribner, 1963. *''The Animal Game''. London, Macmillan, and New York, Scribner, 1957. *''The Warm Nights of January''. London, Macmillan, 1960. *''The Ice Saints''. London, Macmillan, and New York, Scribner, 1964. *''Fingers in the Door''. London, Macmillan, and New York, Scribner, 1970. *''Live Bait and Other Stories''. London, Macmillan, 1978; New York, Holt Rinehart, 1979. *''The Collected Stories''. London, Macmillan, and New York, HoltRinehart, 1984.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Independent''
1925 births 1999 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English academics English short story writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Stowe School James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English short story writers {{england-writer-stub