Roma Tearne (née Chrysostom; born 1954) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n-born artist and writer living and working in England. Her debut novel, ''Mosquito'', was shortlisted for the 2007 Costa Book Awards first Novel prize (formerly the Whitbread Prize).

Early life and education

Tearne moved to South London in 1964 with her Sinhalese mother and Tamil father when she was ten years old. Tearne attended the

Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art The Ruskin School of Art is the Department of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division. History The Ruskin School of Art grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later ...

, Oxford, (2000-2001) and earned an MA.

Career

She was Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

, Oxford in 2002–2003, then Artist in Residence at

Modern Art Oxford Modern Art Oxford is an art gallery established in 1965 in Oxford, England. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The gallery presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It has a national and international ...

in 2004. In October 2005 she started a three-year post-doctoral AHRC fellowship at

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

Art and film

Tearne has exhibited at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, London. In a 1998 review of her work in ''Modern Painter'', J.B. Bullen described Tearne's work as, "light is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere in these powerful paintings." Tearne directed and shot five short films, including, ''Letter from Urbino'', which was screened at the National Gallery, London, in 2012 as part of the launch of her novel ''The Road to Urbino''.

Writing

Tearne's first novel, ''Mosquito'', published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in 2007, was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and nominated for the

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize currently has nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), his ...

. Her second novel, ''Bone China'', was published in spring 2008. Her third novel, ''Brixton Beach'', was published in 2009. Her fourth novel, ''The Swimmer'', (May 2010) was long-listed for the Orange Prize, while a film based on the narrative was made by Tearne and shown at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 2011. Her fifth novel, ''The Road to Urbino'' (2012) was long-listed for the Asian Man Booker, while another film by Tearne, based on the novel, was shown at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London, in June of that year. Tearne's most recent novels, ''The Last Pier'' (2015) and ''The White City'' (2017), were published by Aardrark Bureau.

Publications

Novels

* 2017 ''The White City''. Aardvark Bureau * 2015 ''The Last Pier''. Aardvark Bureau * 2012 ''The Road To Urbino'', Little Brown * 2010 ''The Swimmer'',

, long-listed for Orange Prize 2011 * 2009 ''Brixton Beach'', HarperCollins ** French translation of ''Brixton Beach'' launched at St. Malo Festival (2011), shortlisted for a French readers' prize * 2008 ''Bone China'', HarperCollins * 2007 ''Mosquito'', HarperCollins , shortlisted for Costa First Novel Award and nominated for Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Articles

* 2015 "Ariadne's Thread: In memory of W.G. Sebald by Philippa Comber, book review: How Sebald remains a great inspiration for writer, Roma Tearne," ''The Independent'' * 2012 "The Essay: In Search of the Art of Enchantment", ''

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 ...

'' * 2010 "Sri Lanka's Writers Must Remember and Speak Out", ''The Independent'' * 2008 "October 8, 1950...", ''The Guardian'' * 2007 "In search of the Unseen Venice", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' * 2007 (March) ''Chasing Venus'', for

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Science in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the ...

* 2004 Field Study – 2, (

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

) in conjunction with

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

* 2004 "My Shadow Collection", ''Nel Corpo delle Città'' (Gangemaini, Rome), pp. 19–43 * 2003 "Happenings in a Museum" (Ashmole Books) 23 pp. * 2002 "The House of Small Things" (Angel Row, Nottingham) 10 pp. * 2002 "House of Small Things", ''Source'' (Winter), pp. 26–33

Films

*2012 (June) ''Letter From Urbino'' (film) for The

, London *2011 (June) Venice Biennale Film, ''The Swimmer'', at the Armenian Pavilion, in association with

* 2008 (November) ''Watermuseum'', film for

Nottingham Castle Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Normans, Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortr ...

Museum

Selected exhibitions

*2022 Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition *2019 Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition *2009 198 Gallery, one person show *2008 "Watermuseum", Nottingham Castle Museum, based on work during AHRC fellowship at Oxford Brookes University *2007 (August) Flashline: Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival *2007 (March) "Crossing the Water": Modern Art, Oxford *2007 Blindfolding of the Sheldonian Emperor Statues *2006 Every Object Tells a Story. The South Asian gallery, V & A *2005 (February) Artist in Residence, Modern Art, Oxford *2004 Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporaneo, "La Sapienza", Rome. Blindfolding of statues around the city, including Giordano Bruno *2004 Installation at Modern Art, Oxford *2003 Light installations St Mary's University Church, Oxford *2002 Ruskin MA degree show: London: Cubit gallery *2002 Bracknell Manor House: "Traces". New work as part of prize-winning entry for "Open Shutter" *2002 "The House of Small Things": Southern Arts and London Arts Board touring exhibition: Angel Row, Nottingham; X-Change Gallery, Oxford; 198 Gallery, London, Bracknell Gallery, Berkshire. *2002 Fotonetsouth: Bracknell Gallery Photographic show: First Prize *2001 "Sounding the Heart", one-person show, Milton Keynes General Hospital, National Health Service Trust *1997 Bankside Gallery, London, Royal Watercolour Society *1997 Sphinx Gallery, St James's, London *1997 Royal Academy of Arts, London *1997 Cadogan Gallery, London *1992 Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, South Asian Arts Festival *1991 Bankside Gallery, London. Mixed show *1991 Royal Society of Painters and Etchers, London *1990 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool/Oxford Gallery. Mixed show *1990 Royal Society of Painters and Etchers, London *1991 Royal Academy of Arts, London *1990 Royal Academy of Arts, London *1989 Royal Academy of Arts, London

Public events

*2013 BBC Radio Open Book *2013 BBC Radio Woman's Hour *2012 BBC Radio 3 The Essay *2012 BBC Radio Front Row *2009 BBC Radio Woman's Hour *2008 (June) Art and Neuroscience. A series of talks at Oxford University

References

External links

Profile on Guardian UnlimitedTearne websiteBritish Council Author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tearne, Roma 1954 births Living people Sri Lankan emigrants to the United Kingdom Academics of Oxford Brookes University Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art 21st-century British women writers British women novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century Sri Lankan writers 20th-century Sri Lankan women writers 21st-century Sri Lankan writers 21st-century Sri Lankan women writers