Francis King
Francis King CBE | |
---|---|
Born | Francis Henry King 4 March 1923 Adelboden, Switzerland |
Died | 3 July 2011 London, England | (aged 88)
Occupation | Novelist Poet Short story writer |
Nationality | British |
Education | Shrewsbury School |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Notable awards | Somerset Maugham Award Golden PEN Award |
Francis Henry King
Early life and Council career
King was born on 4 March 1923 in
He was educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford. During the Second World War he was a conscientious objector and left Oxford to work on the land.[3]
After completing his degree in 1949, King worked for the
Literary career
He won the Somerset Maugham Award for his novel The Dividing Stream (1951)[5] and also won the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Prize. In 2000, he was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature".[6]
His 1956 book The Firewalkers was published pseudonymously under the name Frank Cauldwell.
From 1986 to 1989 he was President of
Personal life
King came out as homosexual in the 1970s. After his long-term partner had died from
Death
Francis King died on 3 July 2011, at the age of 88.[2]
Works
- To the Dark Tower (1946) - novel
- Never Again (1948) - novel
- An Air That Kills (1948) - novel
- The Dividing Stream (1951) - novel (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award)
- Rod of Incantation (1952) - poems
- The Dark Glasses (1954) - novel
- The Firewalkers: a Memoir (1956) (written under the name Frank Cauldwell)
- The Man on the Rock (1957) - novel
- The Widow (1957) - novel
- So Hurt and Humiliated (1959) - short story collection (#1 of 4)
- The Custom House (1961) - novel
- The Japanese Umbrella and Other Stories (1964) - short story collection (#2 of 4)
- The Last of the Pleasure Gardens (1965) - novel
- The Waves Behind the Boat (1967) - novel
- Robert de Montesquiou by Philippe Julian (1967) – translator, along with John Haylock
- The Brighton Belle and Other Stories (1968) - short story collection (#3 of 4)
- A Domestic Animal (1970) - novel (revised version of the suppressed 1969 edition)
- Flights (1973) - novel
- A Game of Patience (1974) - novel
- The Needle (1975) - novel
- E.M. Forster and his World (1978) – a biography of the author of A Passage to India and Howards End
- Act of Darkness (1983) - novel
- Voices in an Empty Room (1984) - novel
- Frozen Music (1987) - novella
- Visiting Cards (1990) - novel
- Punishments (1989) - novel
- The Ant Colony (1992) - novel
- Yesterday Came Suddenly (1993) – autobiography
- Ash on an old man's sleeve (1996) - novel
- Dead Letters (1998) - novel
- The Nick of Time (2002) novel
- The Sunlight on the Garden (2005) – short story collection (#4 of 4)
- With My Little Eye (2007) - novel
- Cold Snap (2009) - novel
References
- ^ a b Ion Trewin and Jonathan Fryer, "Obituary: Francis King", The Guardian, 3 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Obituary of Francis King", The Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ISBN 0748638741), p. 313
- ^ Richard Davenport-Hines, "Cumming, (Felicity) Anne (1917–1993)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, October 2009 retrieved 11 April 2017
- ^ "Somerset Maugham Award: Past Winners". The Society of Authors. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ "Golden Pen Award, official website". English PEN. Archived from the original on 21 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
External links
- Francis Henry King Papers along with first addition, and second addition at the Harry Ransom Center
- "Obituary of Francis King", The Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2011
- PEN International
- Valancourt Books –
Dedication to Francis King