Richard Beard (author)

Richard James Beard (born 12 January 1967) is an English novelist, non-fiction writer and teacher born in Swindon, England. Formerly Director of The National Academy of Writing in London, he is a Visiting Professor (2016/17) at the University of Tokyo, and has a Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia. In 2017 he is a juror for Canada’s Scotiabank Giller Prize.[1]

Richard Beard

Novels

Beard's first novel, X20, A Novel of Not Smoking, an exploration of "the nature of human frontiers, the boundaries between ego and intimacy".[2] was published by HarperCollins in 1996, and in 1997 was a New York Times Summer Reading Selection. His second novel Damascus, published in 1998, investigates "the leap of faith that transmutes ordinary life into the condition of ecstasy, the condition of being wholly and transcendentally in love",[3] and was a New York Times Notable Book in 1999.[4] Both these novels are influenced by the principles of the OuLiPo.[5][6] His other novels include The Cartoonist (2000) which uses 'an artificial, Oulipo-type constraint to illustrate a real-life constraint on the imagination',[7] and Dry Bones (2004), a study of "the big issues of personal accountability and civic responsibility".[8] More recently, he has published two retellings of biblical stories. Lazarus is Dead, published in 2011, which retraces the relationship between Jesus and Lazarus, is described as "a shining example of the gospel untruth".[9] Acts of the Assassins, published in 2015, "the story of Jesus's death and resurrection, and the subsequent martyrdom of all the disciples, one by one"[7] was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize the same year.[10]

Non-fiction

His first work of non-fiction, Muddied Oafs, The Last Days of Rugger (2003) traces the changes to the game of rugby union in the wake of professionalisation,[11] reflecting "in an elegiac, fascinating and insightful book that rugby, with its emphasis on team-work and a stoical acceptance of pain and rejection, is a good preparation for life".[12] It was longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.[13] Manly Pursuits (2006), retitled for the paperback edition as How To Beat the Australians, tells of how "his sense of athletic inferiority lead him to travel to the Sydney suburb of Manly to examine what makes Australians so competitive".[14] Becoming Drusilla, the story of long-time friend Dru who underwent gender reassignment, was published by Harvill Secker in 2008, was reviewed by the Mail'.[15] All these non-fiction works contain elements of autobiography and travel writing.[12][15][16]

His most recent book, his 2017 memoir, The Day That Went Missing "was the book Beard always wanted to write, though it took nine others to get there, and it is a memorable addition to the growing collection of memoirs on loss and grief."[17] Beard reflects on the nature of tragedy, childhood and memory, his "account of losing his brother in a swimming accident as a boy is a telling study of loss and denial".[18] It has received critical acclaim as "a wonderful book about tragedy, the tricks that memory plays on us all, and the bottomless capacity for denial that lies at the heart of a public school upbringing. I was quite undone by it – and also surprised, at times, by eruptions of laughter. For it proves, if proof is needed, that there’s nothing stranger than a conventional English family’ (Deborah Moggach).

Other

Beard was shortlisted for the 2008 BBC National Short Story Prize[19] and longlisted for the 2010 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.[20] His short stories have appeared in Granta,[21] Prospect[22] and have been recorded for BBC Radio 4.[23] In 1997 and 2015 he received an Arts Council Authors Award[24] and in 2000 was the recipient of a grant from the K Blundell Trust. He has been selected as a writer-in-residence at Gladstone's Library.[24] In 2018 he was awarded with the PEN/Ackerley Prize for The Day That Went Missing.

Books

  • X20, A Novel of Not Smoking (1996), ISBN 978-1559703994
  • Damascus (1998), ISBN 978-0006497912
  • The Cartoonist (2000), ISBN 978-0747553311
  • Muddied Oafs, The Last Days of Rugger (2003), ISBN 978-0224063944
  • Dry Bones (2004), ISBN 978-0099459255
  • Manly Pursuits (2006), ISBN 978-0224075114
  • Becoming Drusilla (2008), ISBN 978-0099507734
  • Lazarus is Dead (2011), ISBN 978-1609450809
  • Acts of the Assassins (2015), ISBN 978-1846558399
  • The Day That Went Missing (2017), ISBN 978-1910701560

References

  1. ↑ "Scotiabank Giller Prize | Jury". Scotiabank Giller Prize. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  2. ↑ Eder, Richard (1997-11-30). "X20: A Novel of (Not) Smoking. By Richard Beard". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  3. ↑ "What a Difference a Day Makes". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  4. ↑ "Notable Books of the Year".
  5. ↑ Jackson, Kevin (2014-12-30). Invisible Forms: A Guide to Literary Curiosities. Macmillan. ISBN 9781466888548.
  6. ↑ Macintyre, Ben (2011-06-01). The Last Word: Tales from the Tip of the Mother Tongue. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408816844.
  7. 1 2 Hensher, Philip (2015-03-18). "Acts of the Assassins by Richard Beard review – the Passion as police procedural". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  8. ↑ "Dry Bones by Richard Beard". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  9. ↑ Hickling, Alfred (2011-09-30). "Lazarus Is Dead by Richard Beard – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  10. ↑ Team, Web. "The Goldsmiths Prize 2016". www.gold.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  11. ↑ Sheen, Henry (2003-10-05). "Book of the month". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  12. 1 2 Malin, Ian (2003-10-11). "Pitbull and I". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  13. ↑ "William Hill Sports Book of the Year long list announced". www.booktrade.info. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  14. ↑ "Recommended". The Guardian. 2006-10-28. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  15. 1 2 "Laddish to ladylike: BECOMING DRUSILLA by Richard Beard". Mail Online. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  16. ↑ "Manly Pursuits: Beating the Australians by Richard Beard". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  17. ↑ Moorehead, Caroline; Moorehead, Caroline (2017-04-06). "The Day That Went Missing by Richard Beard – facing up to a family's tragedy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  18. ↑ Skidelsky, William; Skidelsky, William (2017-04-02). "The Day That Went Missing review – oddly moving". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  19. ↑ "BBC National Short Story Award - The 2016 Award - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  20. ↑ "The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award 2010". Book Trust. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  21. ↑ "Richard Beard". Granta Magazine. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  22. ↑ "Hearing myself think | Prospect Magazine". www.prospectmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  23. ↑ "Guidelines for Measures to Cope with Disgraceful and Other Events, BBC National Short Story Award 2008, BBC National Short Story Award - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  24. 1 2 "Writers-in-Residence Celebrated". Gladstone's Library.
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