Hilary Spurling
(Susan) Hilary Spurling CBE FRSL (born 25 December 1940) is a British writer, known for her work as a journalist and biographer. Before her marriage she was Hilary Forrest.
Early life and education[]
Born at Stockport, Cheshire,[1] to circuit judge Gilbert Alexander Forrest (1912–1977)[2] and teacher Emily Maureen, daughter of Joseph Armstrong, of Fivemiletown, County Tyrone,[3][4] Spurling was educated at Clifton High School, an independent school in Bristol in South West England, followed by Somerville College, Oxford.[5][6]
Career[]
Spurling won the Whitbread Prize for the second volume of her biography of Henri Matisse in January 2006. Burying The Bones: Pearl Buck in China was published in March 2010.
Personal life[]
In 1961, as Hilary Forrest she married playwright John Spurling;[6] they have three children, Amy, Nathaniel and Gilbert, and six grandchildren.[7]
Works[]
- Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919 (1974)
- Mervyn Peake: Drawings (1974) editor
- Invitation to the Dance, A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time (1977)
- Secrets of a Woman's Heart: The Later Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1920–1969 (1984)
- Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking (1986)
- Paul Scott: A Life (1990)
- Paper Spirits. Collage Portraits by (1992) introduction
- Ivy: The Life of I. Compton-Burnett (1995; combines two volumes originally published separately in 1974 and 1984)
- The Unknown Matisse: Volume 1 – A Life of Henri Matisse 1869–1908 (1998)
- La Grande Thérèse: The Greatest Swindle of the Century (1999) on Thérèse Humbert
- The Girl from the Fiction Department: A Portrait of Sonia Orwell (2002)
- Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909–1954 (2005)
- Ann Stokes: Artists' Potter (contributor) (2009)
- Matisse: The Life (abridged version of two earlier works) (2009)
- Pearl Buck in China (also published as Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck) (2010)
- Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time (2017)
Awards[]
- 1976, Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919
- 1984, Duff Cooper Prize for Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919
- 2005, Whitbread Book of the Year award for Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909–1954
- 2010, James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography, for Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China[8]
References[]
- ^ World Authors, 1985–1990, ed. Vineta Colby, H. W. Wilson Ltd, 1995, p. 842.
- ^ Who was Who: A Cumulated Index 1897–2000, A. & C. Black, 2002, p. 289.
- ^ The Solicitors' Journal, vol. 121, 1977, p. 648.
- ^ Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 95th edition, Kelly's Directories Ltd, 1969, p. 764.
- ^ Biography of Hilary Spurling, The Guardian
- ^ Jump up to: a b International Who's Who of Writers and Authors, 23rd edition, Europa Publications, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008, p. 685
- ^ Kirkpatrick, Kirk; Vinson, James, eds. (1988). "Spurling, John". Contemporary Dramatists (Fourth ed.). Chicago and London: St. James Press. p. 500. ISBN 0912289627.
- ^ "Dazzling tale of Ms Saigon takes top award". The Scotsman. 20 August 2011.
External links[]
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- 1940 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
- British biographers
- British journalists
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Costa Book Award-winning works
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients
- People educated at Clifton High School, Bristol
- Rose Mary Crawshay Prize winners
- Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford