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Sarah Hall

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Sarah Hall

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
Carlisle, Cumbria, England
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Religion
Humanism
Residence History
England (Cumbria, Kendal) → United States (North Carolina, Virginia)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Professor of Creative Writing
Active Years
2000-
Affiliations
Faber & Faber (publisher), Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), Humanists UK (patron), University of Manchester (Professor of Creative Writing), Arvon Foundation (tutor)
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), Humanists UK (patron), Civitella Ranieri Foundation (fellow, later juror)
Influenced By
Robert C. O'Brien (e.g. Z for Zachariah)
Nominations
Man Booker Prize shortlist (2004), Women's Prize for Fiction longlist (2004), Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist (2008), Man Booker Prize longlist (2009)

Education

Aberystwyth University
English and Art History
Degree: BA
Country: United Kingdom
BA in English and Art History
University of St Andrews
Creative Writing
Degree: MLitt
Country: United Kingdom
MLitt in Creative Writing; briefly taught on the undergraduate Creative Writing programme

Awards

Betty Trask Award
2003
Work: Haweswater
Category: Betty Trask Award
Organization: Betty Trask Prize and Awards
Result: Won
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Overall Best First Book)
2003
Work: Haweswater
Category: Overall Best First Book
Organization: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Result: Won
Man Booker Prize
2004
Work: The Electric Michelangelo
Organization: Man Booker Prize
Result: Shortlisted
James Tiptree, Jr. Award (Otherwise Award)
2007
Work: The Carhullan Army
Organization: James Tiptree, Jr. / Otherwise Award
Result: Won
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
2007
Work: The Carhullan Army
Organization: John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
Result: Won
BBC National Short Story Award
2013
Work: Mrs Fox
Organization: BBC National Short Story Award
Result: Won
BBC National Short Story Award
2020
Work: The Grotesques
Organization: BBC National Short Story Award
Result: Won
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
2016
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: Elected
Honorary Doctor of Letters
2024
Organization: Lancaster University
Result: Awarded

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Haweswater

2002 Novel (rural tragedy)

A rural tragedy about the disintegration of a community of Cumbrian hill-farmers caused by the building of Haweswater Reservoir.

community breakdownnature and humanityland and memory

The Electric Michelangelo

2004 Novel (biographical-style fiction)

Set in early twentieth-century Morecambe Bay and Coney Island, the biography of a fictional tattoo artist.

art and the bodymovement and identitycraftsmanship and technique

The Carhullan Army

2007 Novel (dystopian)

A dystopian novel depicting a female-led community and a harsh future society. Published in the U.S. as Daughters of the North.

dystopiagender and powersurvival and community

How to Paint a Dead Man

2009 Novel

A human drama about the past, guilt, art and memory. Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

guilt and redemptionart and memory

The Wolf Border

2015 Novel (environmental themes)

A story about rewilding and human relationships, dealing with conservation and ethical dilemmas.

rewildingethicshuman relationships

Burntcoat

2021 Novel

A complex novel about family, inheritance and attachment to place.

familyinheritanceattachment to place

Helm

2025 Novel

A novel drawing on wind and landscape motifs. Notably the first Faber title to carry a 'Human Written' stamp certifying no AI-generated content.

wind and landscapememory

Bibliography

  • Haweswater (2002)
  • The Electric Michelangelo (2004)
  • The Carhullan Army (2007)
  • How to Paint a Dead Man (2009)
  • The Beautiful Indifference: Stories (2011)
  • Mrs Fox (2014)
  • The Wolf Border (2015)
  • Madame Zero (2017)
  • Sudden Traveller (2019)
  • Burntcoat (2021)
  • Helm (2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
detailed natural descriptionregional realismcalm, incisive observation of body and ethics
Recurring Motifs
nature and windbody, tattoos and tracesisolation and communitymemory and inheritance

Legacy

Sarah Hall is regarded as a leading contemporary British writer. She has earned acclaim in both short fiction and novels, notably becoming the first writer to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice. Her regional and nature-focused prose and explorations of the body and ethics have won international recognition.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature

Archives

  • Abbot Hall Art Gallery (collections / contributor)

Trivia

  • First writer to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice.
  • All of her novels are published by Faber & Faber.
  • Her 2025 novel Helm was the first Faber title to carry a 'Human Written' stamp.
  • Selected for Granta's 'Best of Young British Novelists' list in 2013.
  • Serves as a patron of Humanists UK.