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Jeanette Winterson

ジャンネット・ウィンタソン

Jeanette Winterson

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1959-08-27 （Manchester, England, UK）
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Religion
Pentecostal (raised)
Residence History
Accrington, Lancashire → Manchester → London (Spitalfields)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Journalist, Professor
Active Years
1985-2025

Education

Accrington and Rossendale College
Period: 1970s（一時在籍）
Country: United Kingdom
Attended before studying at Oxford
St Catherine's College, Oxford
English / English
Degree: BA
Period: 1978–1981
Year of Graduation: 1981
Country: United Kingdom
Read English at Oxford

Awards

Whitbread Prize (First Novel)
1985
Work: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Category: First Novel
Organization: Whitbread (later Costa)
Result: Winner
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
1987
Work: The Passion
Organization: John Llewellyn Rhys Trust
Result: Winner
E. M. Forster Award
1989
Work: Sexing the Cherry
Organization: American Academy / arts organisations
Result: Winner
BAFTA Award for Best Drama
1992
Work: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (TV serial)
Category: Television
Organization: British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
Result: Winner
Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
1994
Work: Written on the Body
Category: Lesbian Fiction
Organization: Lambda Literary Foundation
Result: Winner
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
2006
Category: Services to literature
Organization: The Crown (UK Honours)
Result: Honoured
Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir or Biography
2013
Work: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Category: Memoir/Biography
Organization: Lambda Literary Foundation
Result: Winner
St. Louis Literary Award
2014
Organization: Saint Louis University Libraries
Result: Winner
BBC 100 Women
2016
Organization: BBC
Result: Selected
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL)
2016
Organization: The Royal Society of Literature
Result: Elected
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
2018
Category: Services to literature
Organization: The Crown (UK Honours)
Result: Honoured
Booker Prize
2019
Work: Frankissstein: A Love Story
Organization: Booker Prize Foundation
Result: Longlisted

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

1985 Semi-autobiographical novel

A semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman raised in a Pentecostal community who struggles between faith and sexual identity. Winterson's debut and a breakthrough work, later adapted for television.

religion and faithsexual identityfamily and coming-of-age
Adaptations
  • [TV serial] Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (TV serial) / Beeban Kidron (1990)

The Passion

1987 Historical fiction

Set in Napoleonic-era Europe and Venice, a historical novel exploring love and fate.

lovefatehistory and imagination

Sexing the Cherry

1989 Magic realism

An inventive novel blending history and fantasy to question gender relations and historical narratives.

genderstorytelling and historyfantasy

Written on the Body

1992 Love/romance novel

A love story narrated by a gender-ambiguous speaker, exploring the intensity and loss of love.

lovelossgender fluidity

Lighthousekeeping

2004 Biographical fiction

Through stories surrounding a lighthouse, the novel explores memory and the power of storytelling across generations.

memorynarrativitytime

Frankissstein: A Love Story

2019 Science fiction / Social fiction

Reimagines Frankenstein motifs to address contemporary issues of AI, gender and identity.

technology and humanitygenderethics

Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories

2023 Horror / Ghost stories

A collection of ghost stories offering modern reinterpretations of traditional ghost tales.

ghostsreinterpretation of folklorefear and unease

Bibliography

  • Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)
  • Boating for Beginners (1985)
  • Fit for the Future: The Guide for Women Who Want to Live Well (1986)
  • The Passion (1987)
  • Sexing the Cherry (1989)
  • Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit: the script (1990)
  • Written on the Body (1992)
  • Art & Lies: A Piece for Three Voices and a Bawd (1994)
  • Art Objects: Essays in Ecstasy and Effrontery (1995)
  • Gut Symmetries (1997)
  • The World and Other Places (1998)
  • Lighthousekeeping (2004)
  • Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (2011)
  • The Daylight Gate (2012)
  • The Gap of Time (2015)
  • Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days (2016)
  • Frankissstein: A Love Story (2019)
  • 12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next (2021)
  • Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories (2023)

Adaptations

  • Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit — TV adaptation (1990)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical, metaphor-rich proseuse of fable and mythic motifsexperimental narration
Recurring Motifs
religion and faithgender and sexual identitystorytelling and memory

Legacy

Winterson is regarded as an original and provocative writer on feminism, gender and religion. Her major works have been widely translated, adapted for television, and are the subject of scholarly discussion, securing her an important place in contemporary British literature.

Academic Societies

  • The Royal Society of Literature

In Popular Culture

  • The TV adaptation of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit had significant cultural impact

Quotes

  • Why be happy when you could be normal?
    Source: Memoir 'Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?' (2011)

Trivia

  • She was adopted and was taken in by her adoptive parents on 21 January 1960.
  • Came out as a lesbian at age 16 and left home.
  • Owned an organic food shop 'Verde's' in Spitalfields, London; later considered closing due to business rates.
  • Married Susie Orbach in 2015; the couple separated in 2019.