Francis Spufford

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

(born 1964) is an English author and teacher of writing whose career has shifted gradually from

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

. His first novel '' Golden Hill'' received critical acclaim and numerous prizes including the Costa Book Award for a first novel, the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Ondaatje Prize. In 2007 Spufford was elected 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 ...

Career

Spufford was chief publisher's reader from 1987–1990 for Chatto & Windus. He was a Royal Literary Fund fellow at Anglia Ruskin University from 2005 to 2007, and since 2008 has taught at Goldsmiths College in London on the MA in Creative and Life Writing there. In 2018 he was made a professor. Spufford specialised in non-fiction for the first part of his career, but began a transition towards fiction in 2010. In 2016 he for the first time published a book which could indisputably be classified as a novel. Spufford has also edited three anthologies: ''The Chatto Book of Cabbages and Kings'' (1989), about lists used as a literary device, ''The Chatto Book of the Devil'' (1992), and ''The Antarctic'' (2008). Spufford has written an unauthorised novel set in the universe of

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

's Narnia series, ''The Stone Table''. The novel takes place between '' The Magician's Nephew'' and '' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''. Spufford distributed self-printed copies to friends. Writer Adam Roberts praised it as "a seamless recreation of Lewis's writing-style at its best". The author hoped to obtain permission from the C. S. Lewis estate to publish it commercially, but did not receive a response from the estate. In the absence of permission, the earliest publication date would be 2034, seventy years after Lewis's death, when the copyright on the original books will expire in the UK.

Personal life

Spufford was born in 1964. He is the son of social historian Margaret Spufford (1935–2014) and economic historian Professor Peter Spufford (1934–2017). He studied English literature at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, gaining a BA in 1985. Spufford lives in Ely just outside

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and is a Fellow of the

. A former atheist, he is now a practising

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and is married to an Anglican priest, the Reverend Dr Jessica Martin, who is the Dean of Chelmsford Cathedral. He served from 2015 to 2021 on General Synod as a lay representative of the Diocese of Ely. He said in an interview that: "I'm no longer a representative of the General Synod because I was really bad at it. Being a good talker as a writer does not translate into being any kind of successful church politician."

Awards

Published work

* ''I May Be Some Time'' (1996) * ''The Child That Books Built'' (2002) * ''Backroom Boys'' (2003) * ''Red Plenty'' (2010) * ''Unapologetic'' (2012) * '' Golden Hill'' (2016) * ''True Stories and Other Essays'' (2017) * '' Light Perpetual'' (2021) * '' Cahokia Jazz'' (2023)

References

External links

Tumblr for ''Unapologetic''

Tumblr for "Golden Hill"

Ebook of critical essays on ''Red Plenty''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spufford, Francis English writers English Christians Living people 1964 births Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English male novelists Recipients of Desmond Elliott Prize Sidewise Award winners Converts to Anglicanism from atheism or agnosticism