William Boyd (writer)

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William Boyd

University of Nice
  • University of Glasgow (M.A. Hons)
  • Jesus College, Oxford (did not graduate)[1]
    • Notable works
    Notable awardsGrand prix des lectrices de Elle
    Website
    www.williamboyd.co.uk

    William Andrew Murray Boyd

    FRSL (born 7 March 1952) is a Scottish[2][3] novelist, short story writer and screenwriter
    .

    Biography

    Boyd was born in

    University of Nice in France, followed by the University of Glasgow, where he gained an M.A. (Hons) in English & Philosophy, and finally Jesus College, Oxford
    . His father died of a rare disease when Boyd was 26.

    Between 1980 and 1983 Boyd was a lecturer in English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and it was while he was there that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published. He was also a television critic for the New Statesman between 1981 and 1983.[5]

    Boyd was appointed Commander of the

    Dundee[4] and is an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Oxford.[7] Boyd is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club.[8]

    Boyd met his wife Susan, a former editor and now a screenwriter, while they were both at Glasgow University. He has a house in Chelsea, London and a farmhouse and vineyard (with its own appellation Château Pecachard) in Bergerac in the Dordogne in south-west France.[5]

    In August 2014 Boyd was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[9]

    Work

    Novels

    Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 "Best of Young British Novelists" in a promotion run by

    2006 Costa Book Awards. Boyd's novel Waiting for Sunrise was published in 2012.[10] Following Solo in 2013, Sweet Caress was published in 2015, the fourth novel Boyd has written from a woman's viewpoint. His sixteenth novel, Trio, was published in 2020.[citation needed
    ]

    Solo, the James Bond novel

    In April 2012

    Solo, is set in 1969; it was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in September 2013. Boyd used Bond creator Ian Fleming as a character in his novel Any Human Heart. Fleming recruits the book's protagonist, Logan Mountstuart, to British Naval Intelligence during World War Two.[12]

    Short stories

    Several collections of short stories by Boyd have been published, including

    The Dream Lover (2008), Boyd says that he believes the short story form to have been key to his evolution as a writer.[13]

    Screenplays

    As a screenwriter Boyd has written several feature film and television productions. The feature films include:

    Restless (2012), also adapted from his own novel. Boyd created the miniseries Spy City which aired in 2020.[14]

    Plays

    Boyd adapted two

    Strindberg-like take on human dynamics,[18] was performed at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in March 2016.[19]
    Both plays were published by Methuen Drama (see Bibliography).

    Non-fiction

    Protobiography, an autobiographical work by Boyd that recalls his early childhood, was published initially in 1998 by Bridgewater Press in a limited edition. A paperback edition was published in 2005 by Penguin Books.[20] A collection of Boyd's journalism and other non-fiction writing was published in 2005 as Bamboo.

    Nat Tate hoax

    In 1998, Boyd published

    Tate Gallery. Boyd, who also paints, made artwork under the pseudonym of Nat Tate and sent it to auction, where it raised funds for an art charity. Nat Tate also appears in Any Human Heart
    , also by Boyd, with a wry footnote to the 1998 book.

    Bibliography

    Book reviews

    Year Review article Work(s) reviewed
    2020 Boyd, William (3–23 April 2020). "Teacher, chancer, survivor, spy". The Critics. Books. New Statesman. 149 (5514): 70–71. Rée, Harry. Rée, Jonathan (ed.). A schoolmaster's war: Harry Rée, British agent in the French Resistance. Yale UP.

    Literary prizes and awards

    References

    1. ^ D'Angour, Armand. "William Boyd: Going Solo". Jesus College Record 2014, p. 37. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
    2. ^ "The SRB Interview: William Boyd". Scottish Review of Books. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
    3. ^ Clements, Toby (3 September 2006). "A writer's life: William Boyd". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
    4. ^ a b c "William Boyd – Biography". williamboyd.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
    5. ^ a b c Norman, Neil (14 January 2007). "William Boyd: A good man in Chelsea". The Independent. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    6. ^ a b Brown, Mick (4 February 2012). "The master storyteller: William Boyd interview". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2018.[dead link]
    7. ^ "Emeritus Fellows", The Jesus College Record 2011, p. 21, Jesus College, Oxford. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
    8. ^ "Chelsea Arts Club secretary signs off with 'lunatic' plea". Evening Standard. London. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
    9. ^ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories". The Guardian. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
    10. ^ Kirby, A. J. (17 April 2012). "Waiting for Sunrise: A Novel". New York Journal of Books. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    11. ^ "William Boyd to write new James Bond book". ITV News. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
    12. ^ Lang, Kirsty (27 December 2012). "James Bond author William Boyd on Restless, and the spy who thrilled him". Radio Times. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    13. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (2 March 2008). "Too good to be true". The Observer. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
    14. ^ Bonaime, Ross (23 March 2021). "Dominic Cooper Delivers '60s Swagger in First Images From AMC+ Espionage Drama 'Spy City'". Collider.
    15. Broadway.com
      . Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    16. ^ "Main Stage: Longing". Hampstead Theatre. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    17. ^
      The Independent on Sunday
      . Retrieved 10 March 2018.
    18. ^ "The Argument". Bloomsbury Publishing. 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
    19. ^ "The Argument". Hampstead Theatre. 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
    20. ^ "Protobiography". London: Curtis Brown. 2005. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
    21. ^ "Bowie and Boyd "hoax" art world". BBC News. 7 April 1998. Retrieved 11 March 2007.
    22. ^ Boyd 2008, pp. 4–5.
    23. ^ Tayler, Christopher (12 September 2009). "A life in writing: William Boyd". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
    24. ^ Boyd 2008, p. 5.
    25. ^ Frejdh, Anders (7 January 2013). "UK Release of William Boyd's 007 Novel: Solo". From Sweden With Love. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
    26. ^ Prix Jean Monnet List of laureates

    Sources

    Further reading

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Boyd (writer).
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