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Edition 120 (2001) Winner
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Edition 141 (2001, held 4 times in year) Fellowship
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Edition 99 (2021) Winner
Deborah Levy
デボラ・レビー
Deborah Levy
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1959-08-06 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Wembley (London) → Petts Wood (London suburb)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, playwright, poet
- Active Years
- 1981-
- Affiliations
- Trinity College, Cambridge (Fellow Commoner), Royal College of Art (AHRB Fellow), Falmouth University (visiting professor), Columbia University (Institute for Ideas and Imagination fellow)
- Influenced By
- Derek Jarman, Zofia Kalinska (theatre director)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Saviour's and St Olave's School | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
| Hampstead School | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
| Dartington College of Arts | — | — | — | 1978–1981 | United Kingdom |
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Lannan Literary Fellowship | — | — | Lannan Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2012 | Specsavers National Book Awards (UK Author of the Year shortlist) | Swimming Home | — | Specsavers National Book Awards | 候補(ショートリスト) |
| 2012 | Man Booker Prize | Swimming Home | — | The Booker Prizes | ショートリスト |
| 2012 | BBC International Short Story Award | Black Vodka (short story collection) | — | BBC | ショートリスト |
| 2013 | Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize | Swimming Home | — | Jewish Quarterly | ショートリスト |
| 2013 | Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award | Black Vodka | — | Frank O'Connor Award | ショートリスト |
| 2016 | Man Booker Prize | Hot Milk | — | The Booker Prizes | ショートリスト |
| 2017 | Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature | — | — | Royal Society of Literature | フェロー任命 |
| 2019 | Booker Prize (longlist) | The Man Who Saw Everything | — | The Booker Prizes | ロングリスト |
| 2020 | Prix Femina étranger | Things I Don't Want to Know / The Cost of Living (French translation) | — | Prix Femina | 受賞 |
Awards & Nominations
-
Edition 42 (2021) Winner
Works
Major Works
Swimming Home
2011 Novel (literary fiction)Set during a family holiday in Ibiza, an unexpected visitor and their entourage unsettle the household; a concise, poignant exploration of loss, solitude and fragile relationships.
- [film] Swimming Home (film) / Justin Anderson (2024)
Hot Milk
2016 Novel (literary fiction)An intimate novel about the relationship between a mother and daughter, delicately examining body, emotion, dependence and autonomy; notable for unstable narration and shifting perspectives.
- [film] Hot Milk (film) / Rebecca Lenkiewicz (2025)
Black Vodka
2013 Short story collectionA collection of philosophically and sensually charged short stories that investigate isolation, otherness and aesthetics of 'elsewhereness'.
Things I Don't Want to Know
2014 Autobiography / memoirA memoir written in response to George Orwell's 'Why I Write', examining life, work and the meaning of writing.
Bibliography
- Beautiful Mutants (1989)
- Swallowing Geography (1993)
- The Unloved (1994)
- Billy & Girl (1999)
- Swimming Home (2011)
- Black Vodka (2013)
- Hot Milk (2016)
- The Man Who Saw Everything (2019)
- August Blue (2023)
- Things I Don't Want to Know (2014)
- The Cost of Living (2018)
- Real Estate (2021)
Adaptations
- Swimming Home film adaptation (dir. Justin Anderson; premiered at IFFR 2024)
- Hot Milk film adaptation (dir. Rebecca Lenkiewicz; premiered at Berlin International Film Festival 2025)
- Graphic novel adaptation of the short story 'Stardust Nation' (illustrator Andrzej Klimowski, 2016)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- unstable narratorsshifting perspectivestheatrical structuringconcise, coiled sentences
- Recurring Motifs
- home/lessnessmemory and temporal instabilityphysicalityisolation and otherness
Legacy
Regarded as a major contemporary British literary voice, Levy brings theatrical technique and philosophical reflection to her fiction and short stories. Her prize nominations, awards and international translations have given her wide readership.
Academic Societies
- Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)
Archives
- National library and authority records (VIAF, ISNI, etc.)
In Popular Culture
- Swimming Home film adaptation (2024)
- Hot Milk film adaptation (2025)
Quotes
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"one of the most exciting voices in contemporary British fiction"
Source: Critical reception (on Black Vodka) (2013) -
"a writer who prefers unstable narrators and shifting perspectives"
Source: London Review of Books (Alice Spawls) (2016)
Trivia
- Born in Johannesburg in 1959; family moved to the UK in 1968.
- Started as a playwright before focusing on fiction and poetry.
- Married David Gale in 1997; later divorced; has two daughters.