Ian Thomson (born 1961) is an English author, best known for his biography ''Primo Levi'' (2002), and reportage, ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' (2009)

Biography

Ian Thomson was born in London in 1961. His parents moved to New York City that same year, where his father worked for a

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

bank. (His mother, a

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

émigrée, came to England in 1947 at the age of 17.) Thomson was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, then at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, where he read English. He is the godson of the British painter Carel Weight. In the 1980s he taught English literature and English as a foreign language in Rome, then became a translator, journalist and writer, contributing to the '' Sunday Times Magazine'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' and ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. He was Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Currently he is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Non-Fiction 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 ...

. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

(RSL). His first important book, ''Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti'' (1992), an amalgam of history and adventure, was recommended by

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...

as "hair-raising but hugely entertaining", and by the film director

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an ...

as "a great and abiding classic". His book, ''Primo Levi'' (2002), a biography, took 10 years to write and is seen today as the definitive life of the Italian writer and concentration camp survivor. It won the RSL's W. H. Heinemann Award and was shortlisted for the ''

Jewish Quarterly '' The Jewish Quarterly'' is an international Jewish publication that was based in the UK publication until 2021; the journal is now published by Australian publisher Morry Schwartz, With four issues released a year, ''The Jewish Quarterly'' focu ...

''′s Wingate Literary Prize and the Koret Jewish Book Award. (A centenary edition of the biography was published in 2019, fully updated and with a new preface, as ''Primo Levi: The Elements of a Life.'') In 2005 Thomson went back to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

to write ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' (2009), seen by some as one of the most controversial books written on

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. In 2010 ''The Dead Yard'' was awarded the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize as well as the Dolman Travel Book Award.

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...

spoke of it in ''

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'' as a "truly excellent book". Thomson edited ''Articles of Faith: The Collected Tablet Journalism of Graham Greene'' (2006), and contributed a short story to ''Kingston Noir'' (2012), a collection of fiction set in the Jamaican capital by various contemporary writers. In 2011, he donated the memoir, ''Fall and Rise of a Rome Patient'', to

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

’s "OxTravel" project, a collection of UK articles by 36 writers. Thomson has translated the Sicilian crime writer

Leonardo Sciascia Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), '' Cadaveri Eccellen ...

into English, and has lectured at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, London. ''Dante's Journey'': ''A Journey Without End'' (2018), Ian Thomson's "biography" of Dante's great poem, was a ''Financial Times'' and ''Times Literary Supplement'' Book of the Year. In 2022 an interview Thomson conducted in Sicily with Leonardo Sciascia at the age of 24 was published as a book, ''Una conversazione a Palermo con Leonardo Sciascia''; it contained a correspondence between Thomson and Sciascia. Ian Thomson lives in London with his wife and children.

Selected bibliography

* 1992 ''Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti'' * 2002 ''Primo Levi: A Life'' * 2007 ''Articles of Faith: Graham Greene’s Contributions to The Tablet'' * 2009 ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' * 2012 ''Kingston Noir'' *2018 ''Dante's Divine Comedy'': ''A Journey Without End'' *2019 ''Primo Levi: The Elements of'' ''a Life'' *2022 ''Ian Thomson: Una conversazione a Palermo con Leonardo Sciascia'' (Rubbettino Editore, Soveria Manelli, Italy)

Awards and prizes

* 1988 Society of Authors Foundation Grant ''Primo Levi'': ''A Life'' * 2002 Royal Society of Literature W.H. Heinemann Award ''Primo Levi: A Life'' * 2009 Society of Authors Foundation Grant ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' * 2010 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica'' * 2010 Dolman Travel Book Award ''The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica''

References

1961 births Living people People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Academics of the University of East Anglia Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English writers English travel writers 20th-century British travel writers 21st-century British travel writers

External links

{{wikiquote
IanThomson.info
– Ian Thomson's website
RLF page for Ian Thomson