James Meek (author): Difference between revisions

{{About other people|a living British writer|the clergyman of the same name|James Meek}}

Meek attended school at [[Grove Academy]] in [[Broughty Ferry]], Dundee, and studied at [[Edinburgh University]]. His first short stories were published in the ''[[New Edinburgh Review]]'' and he collaborated with [[Duncan McLean (writer)|Duncan McLean]] on a play, ''Faculty of Rats'', which starred [[Angus Macfadyen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thespiannet.com/actors/M/macfadyen_angus/|title = Actors Actresses Acting Schools Celebrity Information Fansites About Stars and 4 Star Hotels}}</ref>

After a few years in England Meek returned to Edinburgh in 1988, where he worked for ''[[The Scotsman]]''. The following year, his first novel, ''McFarlane Boils the Sea'', was published.<ref name="jamesmeek1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jamesmeek.net/www.jamesmeek.net/Biography_2.html |title=biography |website=www.jamesmeek.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810170749/http://jamesmeek.net/www.jamesmeek.net/Biography_2.html |archive-date=2013-08-10}}</ref> In 1990 he helped McLean set up the garage publishing house Clocktower Press.<ref>Mclean, Duncan (1997). ahead of its time. Vintage. p. ix-xxiiix–xxii. {{ISBN |0-099-26848-5}}.</ref>

In 1991, Meek moved to [[Kiev]] and in 1994 to [[Moscow]]. He joined the staff of ''[[The Guardian]]'', becoming its Moscow bureau chief. In 1999, he moved to London. He left the ''Guardian'' in 2005. He is the author of five novels, two books of short stories and a book of essays about privatisation. He is a contributing editor to ''[[The London Review of Books]] <ref>http://www.jamesmeek.net/www.jamesmeek.net/Biography_2''.html</ref>

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Meek was associated with the emerging experimental realist school of Scottish writers, including [[Irvine Welsh]] and [[Alan Warner]], appearing with them on the pages of the [[Kevin Williamson (writer)|Kevin Williamson]]-edited short story collection ''Children of Albion Rovers''.<ref>Williamson, Kevin (ed)(1997). ''Children of Albion Rovers''. Rebel Inc. {{ISBN |0862417317}}</ref> His fiction during this time – two novels and two books of short stories – was characterised by surrealism and absurdism and influenced by writers such as [[Franz Kafka]] and [[James Kelman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://welcometothevelvet.com/forums/content.php?132-Interview-James-Meek |title=The Velvet - Will Christopher Baer, Craig Clevenger and Stephen Graham Jones - Interview: James Meek |website=welcometothevelvet.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123143831/http://welcometothevelvet.com/forums/content.php?132-Interview-James-Meek |archive-date=2011-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://etudesecossaises.revues.org/79|doi = 10.4000/etudesecossaises.79|title = Reason, Justice, Cannibalism|year = 2008|last1 = Leishman|first1 = David|journal = Études Écossaises|issue = 11|pages = 127–142|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/index.php/back-issues/volume-8-2012/volume-eight-issue-three/501-what-if-there-is-a-god-colin-waters |title=What if There is a God? - Colin Waters |accessdate=2014-09-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235120/http://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/index.php/back-issues/volume-8-2012/volume-eight-issue-three/501-what-if-there-is-a-god-colin-waters |archivedate=3 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Meek has described it as '"magical dirty realism'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aerodrome.co.za/tracing-paths-to-the-dark/|title = Aerodrome.co.za}}</ref>

Meek’s third novel, ''The People’s Act of Love'', published in 2005, brought him critical acclaim<ref>http{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/23/AR2006022301720.html |title=THE PEOPLE'S ACT OF LOVE: A Novel By James Meek |first=Michael |last=Dirda |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 26, 2006 |access-date=2022-07-01}}</ref><ref>http{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/jul/09/featuresreviews.guardianreview28|title=The People's Act of Love by James Meek review – a hymn to humanity|first=Irvine|last=Welsh|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=9 July 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n14/michael-wood/dynamite-for-cologne|title = Dynamite for Cologne|journal = London Review of Books|date = 21 July 2005|volume = 27|issue = 14|last1 = Wood|first1 = Michael}}</ref> and a wider audience. It was translated into more than twenty languages and earned a number of awards and a nomination for the [[Booker Prize]]. ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine named it one of the top ten works of fiction of the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://2010.newsweek.com/top-10/best-fictional-books/the_people_s_actoflovebyjamesmeek.html |title='The People's Act of Love', by James Meek - Best Fictional Books - Newsweek 2010 |access-date=18 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023062947/http://2010.newsweek.com/top-10/best-fictional-books/the_people_s_actoflovebyjamesmeek.html |archive-date=23 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Johnny Depp]] optioned the book for a film adaptation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movieinsider.com/m3870/the-peoples-act-of-love/|title =The People's Act of Love Movie|date= December 15, 2006 |first=Amy|last=Renner|website=Movie Insider}}</ref>

''The People's Act of Love'', about a woman and her three lovers in a small Siberian town during the [[Russian Civil War]],<ref>Meek, James, ''The People's Act of Love'', Canongate, 2005, {{ISBN |1-84195-654-6}}.</ref> was followed by ''We Are Now Beginning Our Descent'' (2008), the story of a journalist who travels to Afghanistan immediately after [[9/11]],<ref>Meek, James, ''We Are Now Beginning Our Descent'', Canongate, 2008, {{ISBN |1-84195-988-X}}.</ref> and ''The Heart Broke In'' (2012), set in contemporary Britain, where a newspaper editor blackmails a TV producer into betraying his sister.<ref>Meek, James, ''The Heart Broke In'', Canongate, 2012, {{ISBN |0-85786-290-1}}.</ref>

Besides reporting on Britain and the former Soviet Union, Meek covered the military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11. In 2003 he crossed the border from Kuwait into Iraq, following the invading American armies to Baghdad in a small group of journalists that included [[Dexter Filkins]].<ref>Meek, James, "With The Invaders", in ''Granta'' Issue 83, This Overheating World, 2003.</ref>

In 2014 Meek published ''Private Island'', a collection of essays, mainly from the ''[[London Review of Books]]'', about the privatisation of Britain.

*2005: [[Scottish Arts Council]] Book of Year Award, ''The People's Act of Love''

*2005: [[Ondaatje Prize]], ''The People’s Act of Love''

*2005: [[Booker Prize]], long list, ''The People's Act of Love''

*2008: [[Le Prince Maurice Prize]], ''We Are Now Beginning Our Descent''

*2012: [[2012 Costa Book Awards|Costa Book Award]], shortlist, ''The Heart Broke In''<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20406751|title= Costa Book Awards: 2012 shortlists announced|date=20 November 2012|work=BBC News|access-date=21 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookprizes/9691362/Costa-Prize-2012-Graphic-books-take-the-lead.html

|title= Costa BookPrize Awards2012: 2012Graphic shortlistsbooks take announcedthe lead|date=20 November 2012|worknewspaper=BBCDaily NewsTelegraph UK|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookprizes/9691362/Costa-Prize-2012-Graphic-books-take-the-lead.html

*2002: Reuters-IUCN Media Award<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucn.org/media/media_awards/past/ |title=IUCN - Past Awards |access-date=2013-10-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023125614/http://iucn.org/media/media_awards/past/ |archive-date=23 October 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

*2003: British Press Awards [[Foreign Reporter of the Year]]

*2004: [[Amnesty International]] Journalist of the Year

* ''PrivateTo IslandCalais, In Ordinary Time'' (VersoCanongate, 20142019), {{ISBN 978-1781682906|9781786896742}}

* ''TheDreams Heartof BrokeLeaving Inand Remaining'' (CanongateVerso, 20122019), {{ISBN 9780857862907|9781788735230}}

* ''WePrivate AreIsland. Why Britain Now BeginningBelongs Ourto DescentSomeone Else'' (CanongateVerso, 20082014), {{ISBN 1-84195-988|978-X1781682906}}

* ''The People'sHeart ActBroke of LoveIn'' (Canongate, 20052012) {{ISBN 1-84195-706-2|9780857862907}}

* ''TheWe MuseumAre ofNow DoubtBeginning Our Descent'' (Rebel IncCanongate, 20002008), {{ISBN |1-84195-808988-5X}}

* ''DrivetimeThe People's Act of Love'' (PolygonCanongate, 19952005), {{ISBN 0|1-748684195-6205706-72}}

* ''LastThe OrdersMuseum andof Other StoriesDoubt'' (PolygonRebel Inc, 19922000), {{ISBN 0|1-748684195-6127808-15}}

* ''McFarlane Boils the SeaDrivetime'' (Polygon, 19891995), {{ISBN |0-7486-60066205-27}}

* Sibiřské drama: syrový milostný příběh z období ruské revoluce, 2006, {{ISBN |80-7217-446-0}}

* '' I kærlighedens navn'', 2005, {{ISBN |87-91746-01-9}}

* ''Nous commençons notre descente'', translation [[:fr:David Fauquemberg|David Fauquemberg]], Métaillé, 2008, {{ISBN |978-2-86424-657-2}}

* ''Un acte d'amour'', translation [[:fr:David Fauquemberg|David Fauquemberg]], Métaillé, 2007, {{ISBN |978-2-86424-607-7}}

* ''Thé à l'eau de mer'' (''McFarlane Boils the Sea''), translation Fanchita Gonzalez Battle, Autrement, 1997, {{ISBN |978-2-86260-703-0}}

* ''Die einsamen Schrecken der Liebe'', 2005, {{ISBN |3-426-19710-3}}

* ''Liebe und andere Parasiten'', 2013, {{ISBN |978-3421045867}}

* ''A szeretet hírmondói'', 2008, {{ISBN |978-963-87565-8-9}}

* ''Per amore del popolo'', 2005, {{ISBN |88-304-2267-3}}

* ''Un gest de iubire'', 2007, {{ISBN |978-973-50-1765-1}}

{{reflistReflist}}

* [http://www.threemonkeysonline.com/article_james_meek_peoples_act_of_love.htm The People's Act of Love by James Meek] (author interview)

* [http://www.barcelonareview.com/51/e_int.htm Interview With James Meek] (author interview)

* [http://www.prx.org/pieces/12824 PRX] (radio interview from ''Radio Netherlands'', English)

* [http://www.perlentaucher.de/buch/21914.html James Meek: Die einsamen Schrecken der Liebe. Roman - Perlentaucher] (press reviews, German)

* http[https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article689447/Das_Grau_das_Grau.html Das Grau, das Grau - WELT] (review in ''Die Welt'', German)

* [http://www.parool.nl/boeken/2005/recensies/102005-meek.html ] (review in ''Het Parool'', Dutch)

* [http://www.8weekly.nl/index.php?art=3058 Idealisme en extremisme in 'Uit liefde van het volk' van James Meek - Woorden en dromen] (review, Dutch)

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