Elizabeth Day

Elizabeth Day (born 10 November 1978) is an English journalist, broadcaster and novelist. Day was a feature writer for The Observer from 2007 to 2016 and has written four novels.

Early life

The daughter of Dr Tom Day and his wife Christine,[1] Day was born in the south of England, but raised in Northern Ireland,[2] when her father became a general surgeon at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.[3] Interested in being a writer from the age of seven, she realised journalism was a preparation for her long-term goal, and was a columnist for the Derry Journal at the age of 12.[4] Day was educated at Malvern St James Girls School in Worcestershire,[5] and read History at Cambridge University,[6] gaining a double first.[1]

Journalism

After her graduation, Day worked for the Evening Standard on the Londoners' Diary[7] for a year before becoming a news reporter on The Sunday Telegraph, initially on a three-month trial.[4] While working for the Telegraph, Day won the Young Journalist of the Year Award at the British Press Awards in 2004.[8] Dominic Lawson, then editor of The Sunday Telegraph, was quoted at the time as saying Day was "probably the most brilliant young talent that most of us have seen in twenty years".[9] Subsequently, Day wrote for Elle and The Mail on Sunday.[3][10]

From 2007 until 25 March 2016, she was a feature writer for The Observer.[11] In the UK Press Awards for journalism published during 2012, an event organised by the Society of Editors, Day gained a commendation in the 'Feature Writer of the Year (Broadsheet)' category.[12][13] "The most fascinating interviewees", she commented in March 2013, "have been ... the ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary things. I did a piece on homelessness at the beginning of the year and spoke to men and women who had been living on the streets for years. I learned so much from them – about basic survival, the endurance levels required."[4]

Novels

Bloomsbury has published three novels by Day: Scissors Paper Stone (2012), Home Fires (2013) and Paradise City (2015). The debut novel won the Betty Trask Award for first novels by authors under the age of 35. It recounts marred family relationships affected by a history of child abuse from a male lead character. Of Scissors Paper Stone, Melissa Katsoulis in The Sunday Telegraph felt that "it indicates a thoughtful and conscientious new voice in fiction."[14] Catherine Taylor though, was less impressed.[15]

Day felt that women's responses to the First World War had been insufficiently explored as a subject, and Home Fires combines two connected female-centred stories relating to the aftermath of that war and the more recent conflict in South Sudan,[16] as well as the difficulties responding to the old age of loved ones.[4] Viv Groskop, in her review for The Observer, felt that the author's "great strength is her psychological insight" and that Day's work of fiction is "a beautifully written novel whose quietly discomfiting tone stays with you for a long while afterwards."[17]

Paradise City was published in the UK in spring 2015.[18] Described as "an audacious, compassionate state-of-the-nation novel about four strangers whose lives collide with far-reaching consequences" it was critically well-received, with The Mail on Sunday calling it "thoughtful, humane and wonderfully observed" and the author William Boyd saying it was "an acutely observed and insightful portrait of contemporary urban life. Audacious, funny and shrewdly telling – written with tremendous confidence and brio".[19]

The Party, Day's fourth novel, was published by Fourth Estate in Summer 2017 in the UK and Little, Brown in the United States. Lucy Scholes in The Observer concludes her review noting that the book is "Brimming with betrayal, corruption and hypocrisy, The Party is a gripping page-turner".[20]

Pin Drop Studio

Day is co-founder of the cultural organisation Pin Drop Studio, which holds regular literature salons in London and other major cities, as well as the annual Pin Drop Short Story Award in collaboration with arts institution the Royal Academy of Arts.[10]

Personal life

Day has undergone therapy. She told Una Brankin, writing for the Belfast Telegraph, in a 2015 email: "I am totally up-front about how helpful I find it, in terms of understanding myself, seeing the world more clearly and coming to terms with grief. Going to therapy means I'm a calmer, more centred person and that I don't have to bother my friends all the time with my moaning".[3]

Day married journalist Kamal Ahmed, the Business Editor of BBC News, in December 2011.[3][21] The couple separated in February 2015, and are now divorced.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 Leonard, Sue (5 February 2011). "The dark side of Day". Irish Examiner.
  2. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (13 May 2016). "Breaking down the beauty of Eurovision". The Pool. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brankin, Una (2 June 2015). "Elizabeth Day on the scandal that inspired her brilliant new novel". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Nikesh [Shukla] (13 March 2013), "Elizabeth Day: Home fires burning bright", Book Trust.
  5. ↑ "Prizegiving 2012" Archived 12 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine., Malvern St James, OGA News, Spring 2013, p. 6.
  6. ↑ "Faculty of History - Careers", University of Cambridge
  7. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (2004), "Why women love journalism", British Journalism Review, 15:2, pp. 21–25.
  8. ↑ "Telegraph wins plaudits for war coverage", The Daily Telegraph, 18 March 2004.
  9. ↑ Ponsford, Dominic (17 March 2004), "Hello boss? We won!'", Press Gazette.
  10. 1 2 "Elizabeth Day", Pin Drop Studio biography.
  11. ↑ "Feature writer calls it a Day at The Observer". ResponseSource.com. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "Winners 2012", The UK Press Awards.
  13. ↑ "Press Awards for 2012 – winners", The Guardian, 8 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Katsoulis, Melissa (23 January 2011), "Scissors, Paper, Stone by Elizabeth Day: review", The Daily Telegraph.
  15. ↑ Taylor, Catherine (15 January 2011), "Scissors Paper Stone by Elizabeth Day – review", The Guardian.
  16. ↑ Burke, Declan (24 August 2013), "Women on the verge: when the ‘home fires’ burn out", Irish Examiner.
  17. ↑ Groskop, Viv (13 March 2013), "Home Fires by Elizabeth Day – review", The Observer.
  18. ↑ Benedicte Page "Elizabeth Day novels to Bloomsbury", The Bookseller, 10 October 2013
  19. ↑ "Testimonials". Elizabeth Day. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  20. ↑ Scholes, Lucy (16 July 2017). "The Party by Elizabeth Day review – well-paced literary thriller". The Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "BBC appoints Telegraph's Kamal Ahmed as business editor". BBC News. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  22. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (2 April 2016). "The rise of the new bachelors (they're women)". The Times. London. Retrieved 2 April 2016. (subscription required)
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