A. L. Kennedy

A. L. Kennedy
A.L. Kennedy in 2012
Born	Alison Louise Kennedy (1965-10-22) 22 October 1965 (age 60) Dundee, Scotland
Occupation	Writer, academic, comedian
Nationality	Scots
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Education	University of Warwick
Website
www.a-l-kennedy.co.uk

Alison Louise Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scottish writer, academic and stand-up comedian. She writes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and is known for her dark tone and her blending of realism and fantasy. She contributes columns and reviews to European newspapers. ^[1]

Biography

Kennedy was born in Dundee to Edwardene Mildred, a teacher, and Robert Alan Kennedy, a psychology lecturer. Her parents divorced when she was 13. She attended the fee-paying High School of Dundee and went on to study for a BA Hons in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts at the University of Warwick. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

From 1987 to 1989,^{[ citation needed ]} Kennedy was a community arts worker for Clydebank District Council. She then went on to a role as writer-in-residence for Hamilton and East Kilbride Social Work Department from 1989 to 1991. Her work there won a special Social Work Today Award in 1990. From 1989 to 1995 she worked on Project Ability, a Glasgow-based visual arts organisation. In 1995 she was a part-time lecturer at the University of Copenhagen. ^{[4] [5]}

In 2009, she donated the short story Vanish to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Air" collection. ^[6] In 2016, her novel Serious Sweet was long-listed for the Booker Prize. ^[7]

In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, she signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few." ^{[8] [9]}

In 2020 she began contributing a column on her views of Brexit to the German daily paper Süddeutsche Zeitung . ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}

Kennedy currently lives in the Scottish Highlands, having moved from Wivenhoe ^[14] and has been an associate professor in creative writing at the University of Warwick ^[15] since 2007, having previously taught creative writing at the University of St Andrews from 2003 to 2007. ^{[16] [17]}

By 2006, she had been doing stand up comedy performances in clubs in Scotland. ^{[18] [19]} She has performed as a stand-up comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe and literary festivals. Her main comedy club has been The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh. ^[20]

Her 2023 novel Als lebten wir in einem barmherzigen Land was first published in German rather than in the original English. ^[21]

Awards and honours

• Scottish Arts Council Book Award four times ^[5]
• 1993, 2003 Granta Best Young British Novelist ^{[5] [22]}
• 1991 Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year, Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains ^[23]
• 1993 Edinburgh Fringe First, The Audition ^{[23] [24]}
• 1994 Somerset Maugham Award, Looking for the Possible Dance ^{[5] [23]}
• 1996 Encore Award winner, So I Am Glad ^[25]
• 1999 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature ^[26]
• 2007 Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year, Day ^{[5] [27]}
• 2007 Lannan Literary Award for Fiction ^[5]
• 2007 Austrian State Prize for European Literature winner ^[28]
• 2007 Costa Book Awards Book of the Year, winner for Day ^[29]
• 2008 Internationale Eifel-Literatur-Preis ^{[5] [30]}
• 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award shortlist All the Rage ^[31]
• 2016 Heinrich Heine Prize ^[32]
• 2016 Ehrenpreis des Österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln ^[33]

Works

Novels

• Looking for the Possible Dance (1993) ISBN   978-0-7493-9758-6
• So I Am Glad (1995) ISBN   978-0-09-945721-3
• Everything You Need (1999) ISBN   978-0-09-973061-3
• Paradise (2004) ISBN   978-0-09-943349-1
• Day (2007) ISBN   978-0-09-949405-8
• The Blue Book (2011) ISBN   978-0-224-09140-4
• Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse (2015) ISBN   978-0-553-41944-3
• Serious Sweet (2016) ISBN   978-0-224-09844-1
• The Little Snake (2018) ISBN   978-1786893864
• Alive in the Merciful Country (2024) ISBN   978-1916812284
  • German: Als lebten wir in einem barmherzigen Land (2023) ISBN   978-3-446-27624-6

Short story collections

• Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains (1990) ISBN   978-0-09-945006-1
• Now That You're Back (1994) ISBN   978-0-09-945711-4
• Tea and Biscuits (1996) ISBN   978-1-85799-757-6
• Original Bliss (1997) ISBN   978-0-09-973071-2
• Indelible Acts (2002) ISBN   978-0-09-943348-4
• What Becomes (2009) ISBN   978-0-224-07787-3
• All the Rage (2014) ISBN   978-0544307049
• We Are Attempting to Survive Our Time (2020) ISBN   978-1787331822

Non-fiction

• Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1997) ISBN   0-85170-568-5
• On Bullfighting (1999) ISBN   0-224-06099-6
• On Writing (2013) ISBN   978-0-224-09697-3

Film and TV

"Stella Does Tricks (1996) Channel 4 films "Dice" (2001), with John Burnside

Selected radio

• Confessions of a Medium (2010), broadcast as the Saturday Play on BBC Radio 4, 13 March 2010 and 1 March 2013 ^[34]
• Happy Families (2011), broadcast on BBC Radio 3, 1 September 2011
• Love Love Love Like The Beatles (2012), broadcast as the Afternoon Drama on BBC Radio 4, 26 June 2012
• AA: America's Gift to the World (2014), broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 6 April 2015 ^[35]
• Subterranean Homesick Blues (5 series beginning 2015), broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 14 September 2015
• A Single Act (first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 25th Dec, 2023)

References

1. "Am Rande des Wahnsinns" ("On the Edge of Insanity") in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23/24 October 2021, p. 15. A full-page article about a visit to the Channel Islands, translated to German from the original English by Annette Meyer-Prien.
2. Fox, Genevieve (5 August 2011). "AL Kennedy: interview". The Daily Telegraph .
3. "BBC Two – Writing Scotland – AL Kennedy". BBC. September 2004. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
4. Who's Who 2016. London: A&C Black. 2015. p. 1266. ISBN   978-1-472-90470-6.
5. International Who's Who of Women 2014 (9th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. 2014. p. 545. ISBN   9781857436945.
6. "Telling Tales", The Spectator, 1 July 2009.
7. Brown, Mark (27 July 2016). "Man Booker prize judges reveal 2016 longlist". The Guardian . Retrieved 14 November 2025.
8. "Vote for hope and a decent future". The Guardian . 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
9. Proctor, Kate (3 December 2019). "Coogan and Klein lead cultural figures backing Corbyn and Labour". The Guardian . Retrieved 4 December 2019.
10. Kennedy, A. L. (9 January 2020). "Popo, der Todesclown (Brexit-Kolumne "Affentheater")". Süddeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
11. Kennedy, A. L. (14 January 2020). "Meghan und Harry wollen arbeiten? Unmöglich! (Brexit-Serie "Affentheater")". Süddeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
12. Kennedy, A. L. (21 January 2020). "Englands größter Dildo (Kolumne "Affentheater")". Süddeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
13. Kennedy, A. L. (29 January 2020). "Was lernen wir daraus? (Brexit-Kolumne "Affentheater")". Süddeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
14. , 3 June 2016
15. "AL Kennedy" Archived 17 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine , Courses, Creative Writing, Staff, University of Warwick
16. Curtis, Polly (25 November 2002). "Renowned Scottish novelist to teach at St Andrews". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
17. "Laureation Address – A L Kennedy". University of St Andrews. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
18. Hodgson, Martin (29 January 2006). "AL Kennedy: 'If I hadn't turned to comedy I would have hanged myself'". Independent on Sunday . Retrieved 15 November 2025.
19. Garrard, Nick (28 July 2008). "A L Kennedy: Comedy Rewritten". The Skinny . Retrieved 16 November 2025.
20. "AL Kennedy: interview", Daily Telegraph, 5 August 2011
21. Kennedy, A.L. (20 December 2023). "Congress 2023: Keynote speech by A. L. Kennedy". PEN Berlin. - Wir stehen im Wort.
22. "Granta Best Young British Novelists 2003". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
23. "Somerset Maugham past winners". www.societyofauthors.org. The Society of Authors. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
24. "HISTORY | Borderline Theatre Company". www.borderlinetheatre.co.uk. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
25. A.L. Kennedy. "Encore". Encoreaward.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
26. "Kennedy, A.L." Royal Society of Literature. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
27. "A L Kennedy wins Saltire award". HeraldScotland. Herald and Times Group. December 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
28. "Literatur-Staatspreis an Britin verliehen". ORF Salzburg (Austrian Broadcasting Company). 27 July 2008. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
29. Brown, Mark (23 January 2008). "Perfect Day for AL Kennedy as she takes Costa book prize". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
30. "1. Internationaler Eifel-Literatur-Preis 2008 am 08.06.2008 in Bitburg". www.eifel-literatur-festival.de. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
31. Alison Flood (13 June 2014). "Frank O'Connor prize shortlist pits 'masters' against first-timers". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
32. Acceptance speech, 11.12.2016 in Düsseldorf
33. "Winner of the 2020 Austrain Booksellers' Award for Tolerance in Thought and Action – A. L. Kennedy".
34. "BBC Radio 4 – Saturday Drama, Confessions of a Medium". BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 1 March 2013.
35. "BBC Radio 4 – AA: America's Gift to the World". BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 11 April 2015.

External links

• Official website
• A. L. Kennedy at British Council : Literature
• Profile at The Guardian
• A. L. Kennedy reading at writLOUD in London