Kate Atkinson (born 20 December 1951) is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, which has been adapted into the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

series '' Case Histories''. She won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in 1995 in the Novels category for '' Behind the Scenes at the Museum'', winning again in 2013 and 2015 under its new name the

Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

Early life

The daughter of a shopkeeper, Atkinson was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

, the setting for several of her books. She studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

, gaining her master's degree in 1974. Atkinson subsequently studied for a doctorate in American literature, with a thesis titled "The post-modern American short story in its historical context". She failed at the viva (oral examination) stage. After leaving the university, she took on a variety of jobs, from home help to legal secretary and teacher.

Writing career

Her first novel, ''Behind the Scenes at the Museum'', won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year and went on to be a ''

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'' bestseller. Since then, she has published further novels, as well as plays and short stories. Some of her books are part of a series of novels, starting with ''Case Histories'', which feature the character of Jackson Brodie as a private investigator and former police inspector. Atkinson has criticised the media's coverage of her work when she won the

Whitbread award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

, for example, it was the fact that she was a "single mother" who lived outside London that received the most attention. In a 2018 interview she declared that she did not spend time in great literary parties or the London high life. In 2009, she donated the short story "Lucky We Live Now" to

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's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Atkinson's story was published in the ''Earth'' collection. In March 2010, Atkinson appeared at the York Literature Festival, giving a world-premier reading from an early chapter from her novel ''

Started Early, Took My Dog ''Started Early, Took My Dog'' is a 2010 novel by English writer Kate Atkinson named after the Emily Dickinson poem of the same name. It was adapted into an episode of the second season of the British television series ''Case Histories'' in 2013 ...

'' (2010), which is set mainly in the English city of

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

. Atkinson was appointed a

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(MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to literature. On 30 November 2018, she was the guest on

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's ''

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''.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' Behind the Scenes at the Museum'' (1995) winner of the 1995 Whitbread first novel and Book of the Year Prize *'' Human Croquet'' (1997) *'' Emotionally Weird'' (2000) *''

Life After Life Life After Life may refer to: Film *''Life After Life'' (再生人), a 1981 film Hong Kong film; see 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards * ''Chances Are'' (film), a 1989 film that was known while under production as ''Life After Life'' *''Life After Life'', ...

'' (2013)winner of the 2013 Costa novel award *'' A God in Ruins'' (2015)winner of the 2015 Costa novel award *'' Transcription'' (2018) * '' Shrines of Gaiety'' (2022) *''The Line of Sight'' (TBC)

Novels featuring Jackson Brodie

*'' Case Histories'' (2004) *'' One Good Turn'' (2006) *'' When Will There Be Good News?'' (2008) *''

'' (2010) *'' Big Sky'' (2019)

Plays

*''Nice'' (1996) *'' Abandonment'' (2000)

Story collections

*'' Not the End of the World'' (2002)

Television adaptations

The first four Jackson Brodie novels have been adapted by other writers for the BBC under the series titled '' Case Histories'', featuring Jason Isaacs as Brodie. In 2015 in the United States,

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', it ...

was in the process of developing a pilot called '' The Catch'', based on a treatment written by Atkinson, and starring Mireille Enos. Her 2013 novel ''Life After Life'' was screened as a BBC drama of the same name in 2022, with Thomasin McKenzie in the role of Ursula.

Awards and honours

* 1995 Whitbread Awards (Book of the Year), '' Behind the Scenes at the Museum'' *2009 Crime Thriller Award for The CWA Gold Dagger: ''When Will There Be Good News?'' (nominated) *2009 British Book Awards, Richard and Judy Bookclub Winner, ''When Will There Be Good News?'' *

2013 Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

(Novel category), ''

'' *2014 Walter Scott Prize shortlist for ''Life After Life'' *2014 South Bank Sky Arts Award for ''Life after Life'' *

2015 Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

(Novel category), ''A God in Ruins''

Personal life

Atkinson has been married twice: while a student, to the father of her first daughter Eve, and subsequently to the father of her second daughter Helen. Atkinson lived in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

, North Yorkshire, for a time, but now lives in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

References

External links

* *
''One Good Turn'' Reviews
at

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* *
Kate Atkinson
talking about ''One Good Turn'' a
MeetTheAuthor.co.uk

John Mullan talks to Kate Atkinson
about ''Behind the Scenes at the Museum'' for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' Book Club podcast {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Kate 1951 births Living people 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers Alumni of the University of Dundee British Book Award winners English crime fiction writers English short story writers English women dramatists and playwrights English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Members of the Order of the British Empire Writers from Edinburgh People from York British women short story writers Women mystery writers 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers