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Blake Morrison

ブレイク・モリソン

Bureiku Morison

Aliases: Philip Blake Morrison

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1950-10-08 (Skipton, West Riding of Yorkshire)
Nationality
English
Languages
English
Residence History
Thornton-in-Craven → Blackheath, London

Career

Occupations
poet, author, writer, literary editor, academic, Professor of Creative and Life Writing
Active Years
1980-2024
Affiliations
Goldsmiths, University of London
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (FRSL), The Guildford Institute
Influenced By
Seamus Heaney

Education

Ermysted's Grammar School
English
Country: United Kingdom
University of Nottingham
Faculty of Arts / English Literature
Country: United Kingdom
University College London
Faculty of Arts / English Literature
Country: United Kingdom

Awards

Eric Gregory Award
1980
Organization: Society of Authors
Result: winner
Dylan Thomas Award
1985
Result: winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1985
Work: Dark Glasses
Result: winner
E. M. Forster Award
1988
Result: winner
J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography
1994
Work: And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Organization: English PEN
Result: winner
Esquire/Volvo/Waterstone's Non-Fiction Book Award
1993
Work: And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

1993 Memoir

A memoir about his relationship with his father, which became a bestseller and won several awards.

familyfatherdeathmemory
Adaptations
  • [Film] And When Did You Last See Your Father? / Anand Tucker (2007)

Things My Mother Never Told Me

2002 Memoir

A memoir exploring his Irish mother's untold life story.

motheridentitysecrets

As If

1997 Non-fiction

A study of the murder of James Bulger.

crimesocietychildren

Two Sisters

2023 Memoir

A memoir about his two sisters' deaths.

sisterslosschildhood

The Last Weekend

2010 Novel

A tense psychological thriller novel.

friendshipbetrayalmarriage
Adaptations
  • [TV series] The Last Weekend (2012)

Bibliography

  • The Movement: English Poetry and Fiction of the 1950s
  • Seamus Heaney
  • The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry
  • Dark Glasses
  • The Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper
  • The Yellow House
  • And When Did You Last See Your Father?
  • Penguin Modern Poets 1
  • Mind Readings: Writers' Journeys Through Mental States
  • Pendle Witches
  • The Cracked Pot
  • As If
  • Too True
  • Selected Poems
  • The Justification of Johann Gutenberg
  • Things My Mother Never Told Me
  • Antigone and Oedipus
  • South of the River
  • The Last Weekend
  • Shingle Street
  • The Executor
  • Two Sisters

Style & Themes

Literary Style
clear-eyed and heartfelt proseaccessible poetry
Recurring Motifs
family secretsloss and memoryBritish society

Legacy

Blake Morrison is renowned for his memoirs, particularly those about his parents, which have won numerous literary prizes and been adapted into films. He is a professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature

Archives

  • Leeds University Library

Trivia

  • Both parents were physicians; his mother was Irish.
  • Mother's maiden name was O'Shea, changed to 'Kim'.