Los Angeles Times Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1981) Winner
D. M. Thomas
ドナルド・マイケル・トーマス
D. M. Thomas
Pen Names:
D. M. Thomas（Byline / pen name used for publications）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1935-01-25 （Carnkie (Redruth), Cornwall, England）
- Died
- 2023-03-26 （Truro, Cornwall, England） age 88
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Carnkie (Redruth), Cornwall (birthplace) → Melbourne, Australia (1949–1951) → Hereford (lived and worked) → Truro (later residence)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, translator, novelist, editor, biographer, playwright
- Active Years
- 1968-2023
- Influenced By
- Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Pushkin, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, W. B. Yeats, Charles Causley, Emily Dickinson
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New College, Oxford | English | English | First Class Honours | 1955–1958 | United Kingdom |
New College, Oxford
English
/ English
Degree:
First Class Honours
Period:
1955–1958
Year of Graduation:
1958
Country:
United Kingdom
Undergraduate degree in English. Later worked as teacher and lecturer.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Gollancz/Guardian Fantasy Prize | The Flute-Player | — | Victor Gollancz Ltd / The Guardian | winner |
| 1981 | Cholmondeley Award | Dreaming in Bronze | — | Society of Authors (Cholmondeley Award) | winner |
| 1981 | Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction | The White Hotel | フィクション | Los Angeles Times | winner |
| 1981 | Cheltenham Prize for Literature | The White Hotel | — | Cheltenham Prize / Cheltenham Literature Festival | winner |
| 1981 | P.E.N. Prize | The White Hotel | — | P.E.N. | winner |
| 1981 | Booker Prize (shortlist) | The White Hotel | — | Booker Prize | shortlist |
| 1999 | Orwell Prize | Alexander Solzhenitsyn: a Century in His Life | — | The Orwell Foundation | winner |
Gollancz/Guardian Fantasy Prize
1979
Work:
The Flute-Player
Organization:
Victor Gollancz Ltd / The Guardian
Result:
winner
Cholmondeley Award
1981
Work:
Dreaming in Bronze
Organization:
Society of Authors (Cholmondeley Award)
Result:
winner
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
1981
Work:
The White Hotel
Category:
フィクション
Organization:
Los Angeles Times
Result:
winner
Cheltenham Prize for Literature
1981
Work:
The White Hotel
Organization:
Cheltenham Prize / Cheltenham Literature Festival
Result:
winner
P.E.N. Prize
1981
Work:
The White Hotel
Organization:
P.E.N.
Result:
winner
Booker Prize (shortlist)
1981
Work:
The White Hotel
Organization:
Booker Prize
Result:
shortlist
Orwell Prize
1999
Work:
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: a Century in His Life
Organization:
The Orwell Foundation
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Orwell Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (1999) Winner
Works
Major Works
The White Hotel
1981 Novel (postmodern, erotic elements)A novel centered on a woman undergoing psychoanalysis, blending eroticism and historical memory; widely read in Europe and the U.S.
psychoanalysistrauma and memoryhistory (the Holocaust)
The Flute-Player
1979 Novel (fantastical, poetic elements)Early novel influenced by Russian poetry, noted for its poetic style and limited dialogue.
dreamspoetic expressioninfluence of Russian culture
Dreaming in Bronze
1981 Poetry collectionA poetry collection that gathered his work up to that period; it earned him the Cholmondeley Award.
lossfamilynature and memory
Ararat
1983 Novel (first of the 'Russian Nights' quintet)First novel in a series set around the Soviet Union (the Russian Nights quintet), showing Pushkin and Russian literary influences.
Russiahistory and politicscross-cultural exchange
Bibliography
- Two Voices (poetry, 1968)
- Logan Stone (poetry, 1971)
- The Shaft (long poem, 1973)
- Love and Other Deaths (poetry, 1975)
- The Flute-Player (novel, 1979)
- Birthstone (novel, 1980)
- The White Hotel (novel, 1981)
- Ararat (novel, 1983)
- Swallow (novel, 1984)
- Sphinx (novel, 1986)
- Summit (novel, 1987)
- Lying Together (novel, 1990)
- Flying in to Love (novel, 1992)
- Pictures at an Exhibition (novel, 1993)
- Eating Pavlova (novel, 1994)
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Century in His Life (biography, 1998)
- Hunters in the Snow (novel, 2014)
Adaptations
- The White Hotel (there have been proposals/attempts at adaptation)
Translations by Author
- Translations of Anna Akhmatova (Requiem; Poem Without a Hero, etc.)
- Translations of Alexander Pushkin (selected poems, Boris Godunov, Onegin, etc.)
- Translations of Yevgeny Yevtushenko (poetry and verse-novella)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- poetic and symbolic prosepostmodern techniques (use of composite material/collage)psychoanalytic and dreamlike depiction
- Recurring Motifs
- psychoanalysis / Freudian themesmemory and traumaRussian culture and historyfamily and death
Legacy
Left a broad body of work as poet, translator, and novelist; gained international recognition for The White Hotel. His work has been translated into over 30 languages and he received multiple literary awards.
Academic Societies
- PEN (associated through awards)
Quotes
-
"I'm Cornish, and very proud of it."
Source: Personal History (official website / biography)
Trivia
- His work has been translated into over 30 languages.
- The White Hotel was shortlisted for the 1981 Booker Prize; judges reportedly wanted to split the prize with Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children but were prevented by rules.
- He produced numerous translations from Russian into English, notably of Anna Akhmatova and Alexander Pushkin.