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Livi Michael

リヴィ・マイケル

Rivi Maikeru

Aliases: Olivia Michael / Olivia Wood

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1960-03-15 （Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, UK）
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Residence History
Oldham, Lancashire

Career

Occupations
Novelist, University lecturer
Active Years
1992-2024
Affiliations
University of Leeds, Manchester Metropolitan University, Sheffield Hallam University
Influenced By
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Nominations
John Steinbeck Award shortlist (1994), Their Angel Reach, John Llewellyn Rhys Award shortlist (1994), Their Angel Reach, Mind Book of the Year Award/Allen Lane Award shortlist (1997), All the Dark Air, Branford Boase Award shortlist (2002), Frank and the Black Hamster of Narkiz, Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze award (2005), The Whispering Road

Education

University of Leeds
English
Degree: B.A. (English)
Period: 1980年代
Year of Graduation: 1989
Country: UK
first-class honours
University of Leeds
Cultural Studies
Degree: PhD
Year of Graduation: 1993
Country: UK
Towards a Theory of Working Class Writing: Lewis Grassic Gibbon's A Scots Quair
Manchester Metropolitan University
English literature and creative writing
Period: ～1998年、パートタイム
Country: UK
part-time teaching
Sheffield Hallam University
Department of Cultural Studies
Country: UK
teaching English literature and creative writing

Awards

Arthur Welton Award
1992
Work: Under a Thin Moon
Result: 受賞
Society of Authors award
1992
Work: Under a Thin Moon
Organization: Society of Authors
Result: 受賞
Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize
1995
Work: Their Angel Reach
Result: 受賞
Society of Authors award
1995
Work: Their Angel Reach
Organization: Society of Authors
Result: 受賞
Society of Authors Award
1997
Work: All the Dark Air
Organization: Society of Authors
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Under a Thin Moon

1992 Fiction

Depicts the lives of four working class women on a Manchester council estate during the Thatcher era.

povertyunemploymentcapitalismpatriarchy

Frank and the Black Hamster of Narkiz

2002 Children's literature

A brave hamster named Frank escapes his cage and embarks on an adventure to meet the mysterious black hamster of Narkiz.

adventurefamily

The Whispering Road

2005 Young adult novel

Mixes history and fantasy to explore issues like death, disease, and abandonment through siblings Joe and Anne.

deathdiseaseabandonment

Bibliography

  • Adult books: Reservoir (2023), Ascension (2016), Succession (2015), Rebellion (2015), Inheritance (2000), All the Dark Air (1997), Their Angel Reach (1994), Under a Thin Moon (1992); Older children: Malkin Child (2012), Faerie Heart (2009), The Whispering Road (2005), The Angel Stone (2006), Sky Wolves (2008); Younger children: Goose Girl (2023), 43 Bin Street (2009), City of Dogs (2007), Seventeen Times as High as the Moon (2006), Frank and the New Narkiz (2005), Frank and the Flames of Truth (2004), Frank and the Chamber of Fear (2003), Frank and the Black Hamster of Narkiz (2002)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
working-class perspectivewomen's lives
Recurring Motifs
effects of povertysingle motherhoodadventure

Legacy

British fiction writer known for novels for adults and children, highlighting poor and working-class women's lives.

Trivia

  • Has two sons, Paul and Ben.
  • Children's books inspired by her son’s hamster Frank.
  • Began writing poetry at age seven.