Alba Arikha (born 1966) is a French-born writer who lives and works in the United Kingdom.
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Alba Arikha (born 1966) is a French-born writer who lives and works in the United Kingdom.
Brought up in Paris, her father was the Franco-Israeli artist Avigdor Arikha. Her mother is the American poet, Anne Atik. [1] Her sister, Noga Arikha, is a historian. [2] Arikha received her BA from Hampshire College, and her MFA from Columbia University.
Arikha has written six books. Her first two, Muse [3] and Walking on Ice, [4] were written under the name Alba Branca. Arikha's memoir Major/Minor [5] was published in 2011 by Quartet Books. Charting her artistic childhood in Paris, coupled with memories of her godfather, Samuel Beckett, the book was shortlisted for the Spear's Awards [6] and selected by The New Yorker among the best books of 2012. [7] The paperback edition was published in 2017. An article about her family and Beckett was published in the TLS in October 2020. [8]
She wrote a narrative poem, ‘Soon,’ published by CB Editions in 2013 [9] and turned into an opera, one of two projects Arikha collaborated on as librettist with her husband, composer Tom Smail. [10] It was performed in August 2013, at the Riverside Studios, in London. [9] The second one, 'Blue Electric,' with music by Tom Smail [11] , was based on Major/Minor was performed in August 2018 at the Tête-à-Tête Opera festival at RADA, [12] and was directed by Hugh Hudson. The full production was performed at the Playground Theatre, London, in October 2020, directed by Orpha Phelan. [13] Her novel, Where to find me, was published by Alma Books in 2018. [14] It was selected among the best books of 2018 in the Evening Standard, [15] and long listed for the 2020 Wingate Prize. [16]
Her novel Two Hours was published by Eris Press in 2024 [17] . Charting a woman’s voyage through love, loss and eventually freedom in 1980’s New York, Paris, London and Rome, it was described by John Self in the Observer, as ‘concise, rigorous and heartbreaking,’ [18] and ‘a literary masterpiece of grace and weight,’ [19] by Helen Cullen in the Irish Times.
Arikha is a regular contributor to Radio 4, [20] and was included in Pick of the Week. [21] Since 2012, she has been teaching creative writing for various institutions such as the Royal Academy of Art [22] and the Chocolate Factory [23] and has been involved with Guardian masterclasses, [24] since 2015, where she teaches classes on short fiction. In Spring 2017 she was Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University, [25] where she taught a masterclass in non-fiction. Her poem about the lockdown, ‘What I know,’ was published in Tortoise Media in 2020. [26]
Alba is also a pianist and songwriter, and has performed in Paris and London. She has recorded two CDs of songs, Si j’ai aimé [27] and Dans les rues de Paris. [28] She has also written a song based on the main character of her novel, Where to find me.
In 2019, she was a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, where she taught creative writing. [29]
Arikha has two children from her previous marriage. She now married to the composer Tom Smail, and they both live in London. [30]
Fiction:
Non-Fiction:
Operas:
Music:
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