Carmen Callil
Dame Carmen Callil Australian citizenship | |
---|---|
Education | |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Occupations |
|
Known for | Founder of Virago Press |
Notable work | Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family & Fatherland (2006) |
Awards | Benson Medal |
Dame Carmen Thérèse Callil,
Early life and education
Callil was born in
Callil was educated at Star of the Sea Convent and at Loreto Mandeville Hall.[5] She then studied at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Literature in 1960.[2] She emigrated from Australia one week later and settled in London.[6][3][7]
Career
In the same year she left for Europe, and, after a period in Italy, settled in London in 1964. She worked for
From 1967 to 1970, she was publicity manager of the paperback imprint Panther Books. An example of her work was when Callil lobbied BBC producer Lorna Pegram to employ B. S. Johnson to talk about his 1969 book The Unfortunates for the TV series Release. Johnson's book had eight parts that could be read in many different orders. With barely any negotiation, the interview was ready months before the book was ready for publication. The film included Johnson holding a mock-up of the book that was not at all similar to the final publication.[9]
Callil later took responsibility for all imprints of
At Ink, Callil met
Also in 1972, Callil launched a book publicity company, Carmen Callil Limited.
In 1982, Callil was appointed managing director of Chatto & Windus (which had acquired Virago), where she remained until 1994, continuing also as chairman of Virago until 1995. In 1994, she was Editor-At-Large for the worldwide group of Random House publishing companies. At Virago, among other business and editorial aspects of the company she was responsible for the creation and development of the Virago Modern Classics list (choosing a distinctive green colour for the books' spines), which brought back into print many hundreds of the best women's works of the past.[16][17]
Callil left book publishing in 1994, and for some years divided her time between London and Caunes-Minervois in France.[3] As a writer and critic, she has contributed reviews and features to many newspapers and journals, in addition to undertaking occasional radio and television work. From 1985 to 1991, she was a member of the Board of Channel 4 Television.[5][18]
In 1996, Callil chaired the Booker Prize for Fiction panel of judges, which included
Callil's 2006 book, Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family & Fatherland, told the story of Dr Anne Darquier, for seven years Callil's psychiatrist until her suicide in 1970, after which came "the shocking revelation that her father had been
In 2010, Callil was elected a fellow of the
In her 2020 book,Oh Happy Day: Those Times and These Times, Callil "traced the turbulent history of her British ancestors from impoverished working class to deportation to Australia for petty crimes."[1] As The Herald's reviewer acknowledges: "In research terms, Oh Happy Day is a phenomenal achievement. Callil ... has dug deep into books, newspapers, historical archives, parish records and court documents to provide a meticulous account not only of the lives of her relatives who were 'busy insects of the yearly industrial revolution', but also of the broader historical context."[31] Peter Conrad's review in The Observer concluded: "In its often tearful compassion, its eloquent rage and its vengeful delight in proletarian snook-cocking, Oh Happy Day deserves to be called Dickensian."[32]
Personal life
Callil died of
Honours and recognition
- 1989: recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the International Women's Writing Guild[2]
- 1994: recipient of honorary degree (Hon LittD) from the University of Sheffield[34]
- 1995: conferred with honorary degree, Doctor of Letters (HonDLitt), from Oxford Brookes University[35]
- 1995: received an honorary degree (DUniv) from the University of York[36]
- 1997: awarded honorary doctorate from the Open University[37]
- 2010: elected a
- 2017: awarded the Benson Medal by the RSL[39][33]
- 2017: appointed
Publications
- Lebanese Washing Stories, New Writing 5, The British Council/Vintage, 1996[40]
- With ISBN 0-09-954561-6
- With ISBN 0-330-34182-0
- Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family & Fatherland, Jonathan Cape & Alfred A. Knopf, 2006; Buchet Chastel, 2007.[41][42][43][44]
- Oh Happy Day: Those Times and These Times, London: Jonathan Cape, 2020; ISBN 978-0099548560.[45]
References
- ^ a b c d Rebuck, Gail (18 October 2022). "Obituary: Carmen Callil". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Thomson, Liz (18 October 2022). "Dame Carmen Callil obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Dame Carmen Callil, founder of Virago Press, which championed women writers and transformed British publishing – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Herald Scotland, Obituary: Carmen Callil, publisher, 19 October 2022
- ^ a b Sale, Jonathan (28 April 1999). "Education: Passed/Failed Carmen Callil". The Independent. London. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ a b Brockes, Emma (25 August 2007). "The fearful fighter". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c Lea, Richard (18 October 2022). "Carmen Callil, pioneering champion of female writers, dies aged 84". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Sleeman, Elizabeth, "CALLIL, Carmen Thérèse", The International Who's Who of Women 2002, 3rd edition, London: Europa Publications, 2002, p. 87.
- ISBN 978-0-330-35049-5.
- ^ "Ink" at rock'sbackpages library.
- ^ Harries, Rhiannon (8 August 2009). "How We Met: Hanan al-Shaykh & Carmen Callil". The Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
Carmen Callil, 71, is an author and publisher. In 1973, she co-founded Virago Press, the publishing house dedicated to women's writing. She lives in west London.
- ^ Sullivan, Jane, "Turning Pages: In celebration of feminist publishing", The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 November 2016.
- ^ "About Virago Press". Archived 12 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Virago.co.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Virago Timeline". 3 July 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Toynbee, Polly (26 January 2015). "From the archive, 26 January 1981: Virago Press gives women writers a voice". The Guardian.
- ^ Callil, Carmen (26 April 2008). "The Stories of our Lives: Carmen Callil on Virago". The Guardian.
- ^ Smith, Harrison (30 October 2022). "Carmen Callil: Pioneering feminist publisher behind Virago Press". The Independent.
- ^ "Dame Carmen Callil obituary". The Times. London. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "The Booker Prize 1996 | The 1996 Judges", The Booker Prizes.
- ^ Roberts, Laura (19 May 2011), "Feminist judge resigns after Philip Roth wins Man Booker International Prize", The Telegraph.
- ^ "Booker judge Carmen Calil 'withdraws' over Roth win", BBC News, 19 May 2011.
- ^ Johnson, Susan (8 April 2006). "And so begins the third act". The Age.
- ^ Ezard, John, "Bestselling Bennett heads prize shortlist", The Guardian, 24 May 2006.
- ^ Maslin, Janet, "On the Unsavory Trail of a Vichy-Era Monster",The New York Times, 12 October 2006.
- ^ Bostridge, Mark, "Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family & Fatherland By Carmen Callil" (review), The Independent, 2 April 2006.
- ^ "Announcing the passing of Carmen Callil". RCW Literary Agency. October 2023.
- ^ "Vale Carmen Callil". Books+Publishing. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha (7 January 2017). "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows". The Boookseller. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ Castrillo, Maria (4 September 2018). "London pioneers, in their own words". Talking Humanities. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ Castrillo, Maria. "Celebrating London's pioneers of progress in their own words". University of London. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ Garavelli, Dani (31 March 2020). "Up close and personal with the past - Oh Happy Day by Carmen Callil review". The Herald.
- ^ Conrad, Peter (8 November 2020). "Oh Happy Day by Carmen Callil review – tearful compassion and eloquent rage". The Observer.
- ^ a b Chandler, Mark (18 October 2022). "Carmen Callil, Virago founder and author, dies aged 84". The Bookseller. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "Alumni Honours". The University Of Sheffield. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ "Carmen Callil". Oxford Brookes University. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Honorary degrees". Times Higher Education. 4 August 1995. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ "Honorary degrees". Times Higher Education. 1 August 1997. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ "Carmen Callil". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "The Benson Medal", The Royal Society of Literature.
- ^ "Carmen Callil". The Monthly. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- Beevor, Antony, "Anti-semite-in-chief" (review of Bad Faith), The Daily Telegraph, 11 April 2006.
- ^ Porter, Henry, "The enemies of free speech are everywhere", The Observer, 15 October 2006.
- ^ Conrad, Peter, "Vile Days in Vichy", The Observer, 26 March 2006.
- ISBN 978-0-09-949828-5.
- ^ "Oh Happy Day", Penguin.
External links
- Carmen Callil at RCW Literary Agency.
- New Statesman articles by Callil
- Random House Callil page
- Tessa Williams-Akoto, "My Home: Carmen Callil", The Independent, 6 November 2012.
- Nancy Honey, "Leading Ladies"
- "Profile: Virago was the only name to pick: Carmen Callil, no ordinary feminist publisher", The Independent, 4 June 1993.
- "Carmen and the conman", The Scotsman, 1 April 2006.
- Horatia Harrod, "Carmen Callil: 'You have to be difficult if you want to change the world'", The Financial Times, 17 July 2020.
- Portraits of Carmen Callil at the National Portrait Gallery, London.