Last month, in response to the brouhaha about E L James’ sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey, Sophie Rochester, Director of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, came up with a neat riposte: the Twitter hashtag #BritishwritingisnotallGrey. I’d missed it but Naomi at The Writes of Women wrote a post celebrating it with an excellent list of writers she wanted to share with other readers. It seemed such a good idea that I’ve jumped on the bandwagon albeit a little tardily. What follows is, of course, an entirely subjective list. I’ve limited it to just twenty-five British writers – many of whom you’ll already know – and have kept it to those novelists whose books I’ve read. A click on a name will take you to any that I’ve reviewed.
Jon McGregor
Rupert Thomson
Nadeem Aslam
James Meek
Lesley Glaister
Carol Birch
William Boyd
Jane Harris
Georgina Harding
Liz Jensen
Tessa Hadley
There are many other British writers I could have included here – these are just the first that came to mind. I know you must have your own favourites so please, do feel free to add them.
Great list! I’d add Janice Galloway, Maggie O’ Farrell, Roddy Doyle and Jackie Kay but could go on and on…
Thank you, Helen, and how could I have missed Janice Galloway? And Maggie O’Farrell who is from Northern Ireland not Ireland as I’d assumed.
Great list and I like Helen’s additions too. Thanks for the mention.
You’re welcome, and thanks for the nudge – made me remember how many very fine British writers there are.
Excellent stuff!
Glad you like it, Annabel!
Wonderful, wonferful list. So glad to see the love of my fictional life, Kate Atkinson, there! And I do hope people realise – better sooner than later! – that not all writing is Grey, and there are incredible writers out there.
Thank you, Elena, and there are , indeed. Lovely to hear from you again!
Love this idea. I’ll add to the list Hilary Mantel and a short story writer called Carys Davies whose work I just discovered through the Fiction Uncovered prize
Such a stylish riposte from Fiction Uncovered, I think. Thanks for your suggestions – I must look up Carys Davies.
Julietta Harvey was born in Greece but has lived in England most of her life and writes in English. Her two Greek-set family dramas have just been reissued by Polar Books. Anna Kavan remains another favourite, though I find her quality uneven. At her best she’s sublime.
Thanks so much for this. Both new to me but I’ll definitely look them up.
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Love this list! I’d second Janice Galloway, and add Ali Smith, Gabriel Josipovici (who I’m pretty sure classifies himself as British), Laurie Graham and Helen Oyeymi.
Ah, I’ve never read Josipovici. That’s the beauty of this kind of post! Thank you.
What a great list. I’ll just throw Sarah Moss, Edward Hogan and Alison Moore into the mix!
Thank you, Claire, and having just finished Sarah Moss’s new novel I don’t know why I didn’t include her in the first place. Edward Hogan is a new name for me but I’ll investigate.
I particularly liked The Hunger Trace.