Jessie Greengrass (born 1982)[1] is a British author. She won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her debut short story collection.

Education and career

Greengrass studied philosophy in Cambridge[2] and London and now lives in Berwick-upon-Tweed. She published a collection of short stories called An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It in 2015.[3] The Independent described The Account of the Decline of the Great Auk as "a highly original collection from a distinctive new voice in fiction."[4] It won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.[1][2]

In 2018, she published her first novel, called Sight. It follows a woman, who stays nameless throughout the novel, while she is pregnant with her second child.[5] Greengrass includes biographical stories of several people including the Lumière brothers, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Röntgen and John Hunter, to highlight the book's central themes of reflection and analysis.[2][6] Sight was shortlisted for the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction,[7] longlisted for the 2019 Wellcome Book Prize[8] and shortlisted for the 2019 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.[9]

Her second novel, The High House, was published in April 2021. It follows an unconventional family as they survive a climate apocalypse in a house prepared by the mother, a climate scientist and activist, who knows the floods are coming but does not survive them.[10] It was shortlisted for the 2021 the Costa Novel Award,[11] the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award,[12] and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing.[13]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b "Jessie Greengrass". Women's Prize for Fiction. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Gilmartin, Sarah. "Sight by Jessie Greengrass review – Eyes wide open". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  3. ^ "An Account Of The Decline Of The Great Auk, According To One Who Saw". The Independent. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. ^ "An Account Of The Decline Of The Great Auk, According To One Who Saw". The Independent. 24 July 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Sight by Jessie Greengrass review – a stunning debut novel about minds and bodies". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  6. ^ Hulbert, Ann (3 August 2018). "'Sight' Is an Unusual Novel About Motherhood That's Hard to Put Down". The Atlantic. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Shamsie wins Women's Prize for Fiction". BBC News. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Wellcome book prize: gender and identity dominate 2019 longlist". The Guardian. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Olivia Laing splits James Tait Black prize win with fellow shortlistees". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  10. ^ "The High House: Post-apocalyptic survival in face of rising tides". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Costa Book Awards shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Greengrass, Spufford and Hall shortlisted for £10k RSL Encore Award".
  13. ^ "THE ORWELL PRIZES 2022: THE FINALISTS".


Categories