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A. S. Byatt (Antonia Susan Duffy, née Drabble)

エー・エス・バイアット（アントニア・スーザン・ダフィ／ドラブル）

A. S. Byatt (Antonia Susan Duffy, née Drabble)

Pen Names: A. S. Byatt（Used professionally as an author (the name under which she published most works)）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1936-08-24 （Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England）
Died
2023-11-16 （Putney, London, England） age 87
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Religion
Agnostic (maintained an affinity for Quaker services)
Residence History
Putney, London, England → Cévennes, Southern France → Durham, England (period of residence)

Career

Occupations
critic, novelist, short-story writer, poet, lecturer
Active Years
1964-2016
Memberships
Society of Authors, British Council (board member; Literature Advisory Panel), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Foreign Honorary Member), British Academy (Fellow)
Influenced By
Henry James, George Eliot, Emily Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Iris Murdoch (friend and mentor), Angela Carter
Influenced
Philip Hensher, Robert Irwin, A. L. Kennedy, Lawrence Norfolk, David Mitchell, Ali Smith, Zadie Smith, Adam Thirlwell, Helen DeWitt
Nominations
2009 Booker Prize shortlist for The Children's Book

Education

Newnham College, University of Cambridge
English (studied Italian and other languages)
Period: 在学（詳細年不明）
Country: United Kingdom
Began work on first novels while at Cambridge
Bryn Mawr College
Postgraduate studies (details not specified)
Period: 約1年間（詳細不明）
Country: United States
Spent about one year as a postgraduate student in the United States
Somerville College, University of Oxford
English (details not specified)
Period: 在学（詳細年不明）
Country: United Kingdom
Specific degree details not specified

Awards

Booker Prize
1990
Work: Possession: A Romance
Organization: Booker Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Aga Khan Prize for Fiction
1995
Work: The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
Organization: The Paris Review / Aga Khan Prize
Result: 受賞
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
2010
Work: The Children's Book
Organization: University of Edinburgh / James Tait Black committee
Result: 受賞
Erasmus Prize
2016
Organization: Erasmus Prize Foundation
Result: 受賞
Park Kyong-ni Prize
2017
Organization: Park Kyong-ni Foundation
Result: 受賞
Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award
2018
Organization: Hans Christian Andersen Foundation
Result: 受賞
Shakespeare Prize
2002
Organization: Shakespeare Prize (Hamburg-based award)
Result: 受賞
PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award
1986
Work: Still Life
Organization: PEN / Macmillan
Result: 受賞
Irish Times International Fiction Prize
1990
Work: Possession: A Romance
Organization: The Irish Times
Result: 受賞
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Eurasia, Best Book)
1991
Work: Possession: A Romance
Organization: Commonwealth Foundation
Result: 受賞
Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature
1998
Work: The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
Organization: Mythopoeic Society
Result: 受賞
Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix
2009
Organization: Blue Metropolis
Result: 受賞
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
1999
Organization: Order of the British Empire (honours system)
Result: 授与（栄誉）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Possession: A Romance

1990 Historical fiction / Romance / Postmodern

A dual narrative following two contemporary academics researching two fictional 19th-century poets; interweaves romance, scholarship and discovery.

scholarship and loveintertextualityVictorian literature references
Adaptations
  • [Film] Possession (film) / Neil LaBute (2002)

The Children's Book

2009 Historical novel

Spanning 1895 to the end of World War I, the novel centers on the fictional writer Olive Wellwood and explores family, art, education and the impact of war.

references to children's literature historyfamily and educationwar and social change

The Virgin in the Garden

1978 Contemporary novel / Family saga

First book of a tetralogy following Frederica Potter and her family's life and changes in mid-20th-century Britain.

family historyfemale intellectual developmentsocial change

Angels & Insects (contains Morpho Eugenia)

1992 Novella / Victorian pastiche

Collection comprising a pair of novellas interweaving entomology and human relationships; 'Morpho Eugenia' was adapted to film.

interest in zoology and entomologyVictorian era and scienceclass and sexuality
Adaptations
  • [Film] Angels & Insects / Philip Haas (1995)

Bibliography

  • Shadow of a Sun (reprinted as The Shadow of the Sun)
  • The Game
  • The Virgin in the Garden
  • Still Life
  • Babel Tower
  • A Whistling Woman
  • Possession: A Romance
  • Angels & Insects (includes Morpho Eugenia)
  • The Biographer's Tale
  • The Children's Book
  • Ragnarok: The End of the Gods
  • The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye

Adaptations

  • Possession (2002 film, dir. Neil LaBute)
  • Angels & Insects (1995 film, dir. Philip Haas)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
erudite, scholarly-inflected proseblend of realism and fantasymulti-layered intertextuality
Recurring Motifs
zoology, entomology and geologyreferences to painting and visual artdeath and bereavement (notably the death of a child)family and intergenerational narratives

Health

  • Severe asthma (childhood)
    幼少期から青年期にかけて（詳細年不明）
    Frequent childhood illness led to prolonged periods in bed; reading became an escape and influenced the development of her literary interests.

Legacy

A. S. Byatt made a major contribution to contemporary English literature with erudite fiction and criticism, receiving numerous international awards. Her intertextual approach and engagement with Victorian literature have been widely acclaimed.

Academic Societies

  • British Academy
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Honorary)

Quotes

  • I can't say how important it was to me when Angela Carter said 'I grew up on fairy stories — they're much more important to me than realist narratives'.
    Source: Interview / The Paris Review (2001)

Trivia

  • She wrote fiction primarily by hand rather than on a computer.
  • Her 11-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver; the loss profoundly influenced her work.
  • She was appointed Dame Commander (DBE) in 1999 and received many honours.
  • Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.