Eley Williams

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Eley Williams
FRSL
Alma materSelwyn College, Cambridge
OccupationWriter
SpouseNell Stevens

Eleanor Williams

FRSL is a British writer.[1] Her debut collection of prose, Attrib. and Other Stories (Influx Press, 2017), was awarded the Republic of Consciousness Prize[2] and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize 2018.[3] Her writing has also been anthologised in The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story (Penguin Classics, 2018),[4] Liberating the Canon (Dostoevsky Wannabe, 2018)[5] and Not Here: A Queer Anthology of Loneliness (Pilot Press, 2017).[6]

Williams is an alumna of the

MacDowell workshop and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[7] She teaches at Royal Holloway, University of London,[8] and supervises Jungftak, a journal for contemporary prose poetry.[9]

Her first novel, The Liar's Dictionary, was published in 2020, described in The Guardian as a "virtuoso performance full of charm... a glorious novel – a perfectly crafted investigation of our ability to define words and their power to define us."[10] Stuart Kelly in a review in The Spectator wrote of the book: "It deals with love as something which cannot be put into words, and dare not speak its name (done neither stridently nor sentimentally). It is, in short, a delight."[11]

Williams' stories "Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good" (2018) and "Moonlighting" (2019) have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 under the Short Works strand, and her story "Scrimshaw" was a finalist for the 2020 BBC National Short Story Award.[12] A 10-part radio series Gambits, based around the theme of chess, was broadcast on Radio 4 beginning in November 2021.[13]

Early and personal life

Williams' given name is Eleanor; the unusual spelling of Eley came from school. She grew up with two sisters.[14] Williams graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge. She now lives in London with her wife Nell Stevens.[15]

Awards and honours

In 2017, Williams received the Society of Authors's Writing Grant, and in 2018, she received a MacDowell Fellowship and Fellowship of Royal Society of Literature.[8]

In 2023, Williams was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40.[16][17]

Awards for Williams's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
2005 "Gravity"
Christopher Tower Poetry Prize
 Winner [18]
2017 Attrib. and Other Stories James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction Winner [3][19]
2018 Dylan Thomas Prize Longlist [20]
Republic of Consciousness Prize Winner [2][21]
2020 "Scrimshaw" BBC National Short Story Award Finalist [12]
2021 The Liar’s Dictionary Betty Trask Award Winner [22]
Desmond Elliott Prize Shortlist [23]

Selected bibliography

  • "In pursuit of the swan at Brentford Ait," essay in An Unreliable Guide to London, edited by Kit Caless and Gary Budden (2016)
  • Attrib. and Other Stories, short story collection (2017)
  • Frit, poetry pamphlet (2017)[24]
  • "Of Père Lachaise, On Business," in We'll Never Have Paris, edited by Andrew Gallix (2019)
  • "To Plot, Plan, Redress," on the Rebecca Riots 1839, in Resist: Stories of Uprising (2019)
  • "Scrimshaw," story anthologised in Still Worlds Turning (2019), shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2020[25]
  • The Liar's Dictionary, novel (2020)

References

  1. ^ Revely-Calder, Cal (2017-04-01). "Attrib. and other stories by Eley Williams review – life's big microdrama moments". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  2. ^ a b Onwuemezi, Natasha (2018-03-20). "Influx wins Republic of Consciousness Prize". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  3. ^
    The University of Edinburgh. Archived
    from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  4. ^ Hensher, Philip. "The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story". Penguin. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  5. ^ Waidner, Isabel (2018-01-16). "Liberating the Canon: Intersectionality and Innovation in Literature". 3:AM Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  6. ^ "Not Here A Queer Anthology of Loneliness : P-U-N-C-H". p-u-n-c-h.ro. Archived from the original on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  7. ^ Flood, Alison (2018-06-28). "Royal Society of Literature admits 40 new fellows to address historical biases". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  8. ^ a b "Dr Eley Williams". Royal Holloway, University of London. Archived from the original on 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  9. ^ "About". JUNGFTAK. Archived from the original on 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  10. ^ Cummins, Anthony (2020-07-14). "The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams review – a glorious way with words". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  11. ^ Kelly, Stuart (2020-07-11). "Spotting the mountweazels: The Liar's Dictionary, by Eley Williams, reviewed". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  12. ^ a b "Scrimshaw by Eley Williams". BBC National Short Story Award 2020. BBC Radio 4. 2020-09-18. Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  13. ^ "Gambits". BBC Radio 4. 1 November 2021. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. ^ Jordan, Justine (17 July 2020). "Hunting for mountweazels: Eley Williams on the fun - and responsibility - of dictionaries". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  15. ^ Wolfe, Kathi (29 January 2024). "'Liar's Dictionary' a fab, queer tale for lovers of language". Washington Blade. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  16. ^ Razzall, Katie (2023-04-13). "Granta: Eleanor Catton and Saba Sams make Best of Young British Novelists list". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  17. ^ "Granta Names 'Best of Young British Novelists'". Shelf Awareness. 2023-04-14. Archived from the original on 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  18. Christ Church, Oxford University. Archived
    from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  19. ^ "Awards: James Tait Black". Shelf Awareness. 2018-08-21. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  20. ^ "Awards: International Dylan Thomas; Branford Boase". Shelf Awareness. 2018-02-05. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  21. ^ "Awards: Dylan Thomas International; Republic of Consciousness; B&N Discover". Shelf Awareness . 2018-03-28. Archived from the original on 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  22. The Society of Authors. 2020-05-08. Archived
    from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  23. ^ "Awards: Governor General's Literary & IndieReader Discovery Winners, Desmond Elliott Shortlist". Shelf Awareness . 2021-06-04. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  24. ^ "Our Books". Sad Press. 2016-09-25. Archived from the original on 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  25. ^ "Sarah Hall Nominated for Fourth Time as 15th BBC National Short Story Award Reveals Bold, Experimental Shortlist Celebrating a Generation of Voices | BBC Short Story Awards". University of Cambridge. 2020-09-11. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
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