Encore Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 10 (1999) Winner
Christina Koning
クリスティーナ・コーニング
Christina Koning
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1954-01-01 （Kuala Belait, Brunei）
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Venezuela (early childhood) → Jamaica (early childhood) → Cambridge (adult)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, journalist, travel writer, literary critic, academic
- Active Years
- 1980-
- Affiliations
- The Times (worked as Books Editor), Cosmopolitan (contributor), Royal Literary Fund (Fellow), University of Oxford (taught Creative Writing), University of London (taught Creative Writing)
- Nominations
- David Higham Prize for Fiction (A Mild Suicide shortlisted), Orange Prize for Fiction (Undiscovered Country contended)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girton College, Cambridge | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
| University of Edinburgh | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
Girton College, Cambridge
Country:
United Kingdom
Studied at Cambridge (Girton College)
University of Edinburgh
Country:
United Kingdom
Edinburgh is the setting for her first novel
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Encore Award | Undiscovered Country | — | Encore Award organization | winner |
| 2001 | Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship | Fabulous Time | — | Society of Authors | recipient |
Encore Award
1999
Work:
Undiscovered Country
Organization:
Encore Award organization
Result:
winner
Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship
2001
Work:
Fabulous Time
Organization:
Society of Authors
Result:
recipient
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
A Mild Suicide
1992 novel (contemporary fiction)A debut novel set in Edinburgh in 1977, exploring personal anguish and relationships.
personal anguishrelationships
Undiscovered Country
1998 novel (postcolonial)Explores aspects of colonialism and its legacies, reflecting experiences from the author's childhood abroad.
colonialismidentity
Fabulous Time
2000 novel (historical elements)A novel partly set in China during the Xinhai Revolution, addressing colonial themes.
colonialismhistory
The Dark Tower
2010 novel (historical fiction)Historical novel set around the Anglo-Zulu War (1879).
warimperialism
Variable Stars
2011 novel (biographical elements)A novel about 18th-century astronomer Caroline Herschel.
women's historyhistory of science
Line of Sight
2014 novel (detective series)First in a detective series set in the 1920s after the First World War, featuring a blind detective.
mysterypostwar society
Game of Chance
2015 novel (detective fiction)A continuation of the Blind Detective series set in 1929.
mysteryhistory
Time of Flight
2016 novel (detective fiction)Another entry in the Blind Detective series, blending mystery with historical background.
mysteryhistory
Out of Shot
2017 novel (detective fiction)A Blind Detective series novel reflecting social contexts of the 1920s.
mysterysociety
End of Term
2018 novel (detective fiction)Series continuation, containing elements of crimes connected to schools/terms.
mysteryeducation
Murder in Berlin
2023 novel (detective fiction)Latest entry in the series set in Berlin (2023).
mysteryhistory
Bibliography
- A Mild Suicide (1992)
- Undiscovered Country (1998)
- Fabulous Time (2000)
- The Dark Tower (2010)
- Variable Stars (2011)
- Line of Sight (2014)
- Game of Chance (2015)
- Time of Flight (2016)
- Out of Shot (2017)
- End of Term (2018)
- Murder in Berlin (2023)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- detailed historical settingsclassic plotting with emphasis on psychological characterization
- Recurring Motifs
- colonialism and its aftermathalienation and displacementmotifs of sight/blindness (Blind Detective series)
Legacy
Known for novels addressing colonialism and history and for a historically grounded detective series. Active also as critic, editor and teacher, she holds an established place in the anglophone literary world.
Academic Societies
- Royal Literary Fund
Trivia
- Born in 1954 in Kuala Belait, Borneo.
- Spent early childhood in Venezuela and Jamaica.
- Worked as Books Editor for The Times.
- Won the Encore Award in 1999 for Undiscovered Country.