Betty Trask Prize and Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 4 (1987) Winner
Peter Benson
ピーター・ベンソン
Peter Benson
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1956-01-01
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, playwright, short story writer, poet
- Active Years
- 1987-
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Guardian Fiction Prize | The Levels | — | — | Winner |
| 1987 | Authors' Club Best First Novel Award | The Levels | — | Authors' Club | Winner |
| 1987 | Betty Trask Prize | The Levels | — | — | Winner |
| 1987 | Whitbread Book Award (Costa Book Awards) | The Levels | — | — | Shortlisted |
| 1987 | Premio Letterario Chianti | The Levels | — | — | Shortlisted |
| 1990 | Encore Award | A Lesser Dependency | — | — | Winner |
| 1990 | Somerset Maugham Award | The Other Occupant | — | — | Winner |
| 1994 | Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship | — | — | Society of Authors | Awarded |
| 2012 | Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (selected) | Two Cows and a Vanful of Smoke | — | Jerwood | Selected |
Guardian Fiction Prize
1987
Work:
The Levels
Result:
Winner
Authors' Club Best First Novel Award
1987
Work:
The Levels
Organization:
Authors' Club
Result:
Winner
Betty Trask Prize
1987
Work:
The Levels
Result:
Winner
Whitbread Book Award (Costa Book Awards)
1987
Work:
The Levels
Result:
Shortlisted
Premio Letterario Chianti
1987
Work:
The Levels
Result:
Shortlisted
Encore Award
1990
Work:
A Lesser Dependency
Result:
Winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1990
Work:
The Other Occupant
Result:
Winner
Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship
1994
Organization:
Society of Authors
Result:
Awarded
Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (selected)
2012
Work:
Two Cows and a Vanful of Smoke
Organization:
Jerwood
Result:
Selected
Awards & Nominations
Encore Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (1990) Winner
Somerset Maugham Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 0 (1991) Winner
Works
Major Works
The Levels
1987 NovelDebut novel set among the levels of western England, exploring relationships and landscape; critically acclaimed.
landscape and placehuman relationshipsbelonging
A Lesser Dependency
1989 NovelA study of inner life and subtle dependencies; winner of the Encore Award.
dependencyself-awareness
The Other Occupant
1990 NovelA shorter novel probing solitude and place; recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award.
lonelinessplace
Two Cows and a Vanful of Smoke
2011 NovelAn ensemble piece focusing on middle-aged characters; selected for Jerwood Fiction Uncovered in 2012.
middle agecommunityeveryday events
The Stromness Dinner
2020 NovelA recent work exploring human interactions around a provincial town and dinner table.
local communityfood and relationships
Bibliography
- The Levels (1987)
- A Lesser Dependency (1989)
- The Other Occupant (1990)
- Odo's Hanging (1993)
- Riptide (1994)
- A Private Moon (1995)
- The Shape of Clouds (1997)
- Two Cows and a Vanful of Smoke (2011)
- Isabel's Skin (2012)
- The South in Winter (2017)
- The Stromness Dinner (2020)
- Kidnap Fury of the Smoking Lovers (2022)
- The Two Friends (2013, play)
- Short stories (Jude, Alan, Rajastan, Gates of Swimming, Dominion etc.)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- lyrical and restrained descriptionintimate attention to characters' inner livescharacteristic of modern British fiction
- Recurring Motifs
- landscape (particularly levels/marshes and provincial settings)loneliness and belongingdetails of everyday life
Legacy
Peter Benson is considered one of the notable British novelists since the 1980s, receiving acclaim particularly for his debut The Levels. He has published across genres and is praised for his distinctive voice.
Quotes
-
One of the most distinctive voices in modern British fiction.
Source: London Evening Standard (quoted)
Trivia
- He is father to a daughter, Ella (born 1995), with poet Carol Ann Duffy.
- His debut novel The Levels won multiple awards and brought him critical attention.