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Jenni Fagan

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Dr Jenni Fagan

FRSL
BornSeptember 1977 (1977-09) (age 46)
Scotland
OccupationNovelist, poet, screenwriter.
EducationBA at University of Greenwich, MA at Royal Holloway, University of London, PhD University of Edinburgh.
Notable worksThe Panopticon
Notable awardsSunday Herald Culture Awards Scottish Author of The Year 2016
Website
jennifagan.com

Dr Jenni Fagan FRSL (born 1977) is a Scottish novelist and poet. She has written several books including fiction novel The Panopticon,[1][2] screenplays and several books of poetry. She was named Scottish writer of the year 2016 by The Glasgow Herald. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[3]

Early life

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Fagan was born in 1977[4] and grew up in Scotland within the Scottish Local Authority care system.[5] As a child she was adopted twice but neither placement worked out well.[6] She spent six years living on a caravan park,[6][7] and states that while she was a child she moved 26 times.[4] After leaving the care system, Fagan was also homeless for several years, living in homeless accommodation.[8]

In 2007, she received the Dewar Arts award, which enabled her to attend Norwich School of Art and Design, going on to read for a BA at University of Greenwich, from which she graduated first class. She went on to study for a MA at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she was taught by Andrew Motion.[9] She completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh; her thesis is on Structuralism.[citation needed]

Career

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With the publication of her first novel in 2013, Fagan was listed by Granta as one of the 2013 Granta Best Young British Novelists.[10] The Panopticon was well received in the press, with The New York Times describing her writing by saying: "...there is no resisting the tidal rollout of Fagan's imagery. Her prose beats behind your eyelids..."[11] and also describing Fagan as The Patron Saint of Literary Street Urchins."[12]

Her second novel, The Sunlight Pilgrims released in 2016, tells the story of a transgender young girl named Stella who lives on a caravan park and is based around the relationships she forms while growing up, set against a backdrop of rural Scotland during a period of freezing climate change. Writer Ben Myers described it as "prose that sparkles from the first page."[13]

Fagan was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award in 2017 with The Waken.[14]

Fagan mentors young writers and works with young people including offenders and those in the prison system. She curated an art exhibition at Tramway in Glasgow entitled Narrative for Koestler Trust in 2017. It showcased artwork by prisoners, young offenders and those in secure psychiatric care from all across Scotland.[15]

In 2017, as part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Fagan and four other Scottish writers took part in the Outriders Project, which involved taking road trips across the continent of America with local writers to explore partnerships while writing and blogging throughout the journey. Fagan's journey entailed travelling from the Rust Belt to Silicon Valley where she explored "questions on the nature of truth." She was accompanied by American novelist Bonnie Jo Campbell.[16] The subsequent novel length poem called TRUTH was published by Tangerine Press in Autumn 2019.[citation needed]

It was during a writing residency at Shakespeare and Company, in Paris, she wrote some of the poetry which made up her poetry collection There’s a Witch in the Word Machine.[17]

She has been Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh, Lewisham Hospital's neonatal unit, Norfolk Blind Association, and has collaborated with a women's prison and various youth organisations over many years.[7] She was a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellow at Grez-sur-Loing for a month in 2018 supported by The Scottish Book Trust.

She directed her first short film in 2018, a cine-poem about Bangour Village Hospital where she was born. She has also experimented with other media such as sculpture when she created a giant metal scold's bridle onto which she engraved words by women prisoners from the UK and USA, including submissions from women on death row.[8]

Books

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Fiction novels

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  • The Panopticon (2012)
  • The Sunlight Pilgrims (2016)
  • Luckenbooth (2021)
  • Hex (2022)

Non-Fiction

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  • Ootlin (2023)

Poetry

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  • Urchin Belle (2009)
  • Impilo/The Acid Burn No Face Man (2012) Bottle of Smoke Press
  • The Dead Queen of Bohemia: New & Collected Poems (2016)
  • There's A Witch in the Word Machine (2018)
  • Truth (2019)
  • The Bone Library (2022)

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Robinson, David (16 April 2013). "Jenni Fagan on life in care and her new novel". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. ^ Charles, Ron (30 July 2013). "Fiction: 'The Panopticon', by Jenni Fagan". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  3. ^ Creamer, Ella (12 July 2023). "Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b "Q and A with author Jenni Fagan". Financial Times. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  5. ^ Kappala Ramsamy (14 April 2012). "Debut author: Jenni Fagan". The Observer. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b Robinson, David. "Jenni Fagan on life in care and her new novel". The Scotsman. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b Hackett, Sarah (11 April 2016). "Author Q&A: Jenni Fagan". The Big Issue North. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b Miller, Phil (13 October 2017). "Jenni Fagan: "If art is to be used to offer rehabilitation within the prison system or young offenders, then each artwork should be able to stand alone"". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Jenni Fagan". Dewar Arts Awards. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  10. ^ Allen, Katie (15 April 2013). "Granta list 'proves publishing has broadened horizons'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  11. ^ Shone, Tom (18 July 2013). "Surveillance State". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  12. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (15 July 2013). "Scrappy Survivor vs. All-Seeing Eye". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  13. ^ Myers, Ben (15 June 2016). "Cold comforts: exploring the uncertainty of climate change through fiction". New Statesman. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  14. ^ "The Waken". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Narrative: Jenni Fagan on rehabilitation through art". Creative Scotland. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Edinburgh International Book Festival's Outriders Take Five Journeys Across the Americas". Edinburgh International Book Festival. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  17. ^ Simpson, Jan (2 November 2018). "Jenni Fagan – There's a Witch in the Word Machine". The Wee Review. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  18. ^ Singh, Anita (20 January 2012). "Waterstones 11: the literary ones to watch". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  19. ^ Ferguson, Brian (21 October 2013). "Jenni Fagan clinches deal for The Panopticon film". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  20. ^ Duffy, Judith (10 July 2016). "And the winner is ... Scotland!Sunday Herald's 'Cultural Oscars' celebrate the nation's greatest stars and artists". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
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