Eley Williams

Last updated
Eley Williams

FRSL
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
Alma mater Selwyn College, Cambridge
Notable awards James Tait Black Memorial Prize (2017)
Republic of Consciousness Prize (2018)
Betty Trask Award (2021)
Spouse Nell Stevens

Eleanor Williams FRSL is a British writer. [1] Her debut collection of prose, Attrib. and Other Stories (Influx Press, 2017), was awarded the 2018 Republic of Consciousness Prize [2] and the 2017 James Tait Black Memorial Prize . [3] Her writing has also been anthologised in The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story (Penguin Classics, 2018), [4] Liberating the Canon (Dostoevsky Wannabe, 2018) [5] and Not Here: A Queer Anthology of Loneliness (Pilot Press, 2017). [6]

Contents

Williams is an alumna of the MacDowell Workshop and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. [7] She taught at Royal Holloway, University of London, [8] and supervises Jungftak, a journal for contemporary prose poetry. [9]

Her first novel, The Liar's Dictionary, was published in 2020, described in The Guardian as a "virtuoso performance full of charm... a glorious novel – a perfectly crafted investigation of our ability to define words and their power to define us." [10] Stuart Kelly in a review in The Spectator wrote of the book: "It deals with love as something which cannot be put into words, and dare not speak its name (done neither stridently nor sentimentally). It is, in short, a delight." [11]

Williams's stories "Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good" (2018) and "Moonlighting" (2019) have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 under the Short Works strand, and her story "Scrimshaw" was a finalist for the 2020 BBC National Short Story Award. [12] A 10-part radio series Gambits, based around the theme of chess, was broadcast on Radio 4 beginning in November 2021. [13]

Early and personal life

Williams' given name is Eleanor; the unusual spelling of Eley came from school. She grew up with two sisters. [14] Williams graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge. She lives in West Oxfordshire with her wife Nell Stevens. [15]

Awards and honours

In 2017, Williams received the Society of Authors's Writing Grant, and in 2018, she received a MacDowell Fellowship and Fellowship of Royal Society of Literature. [8]

In 2023, Williams was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40. [16] [17]

Awards for Williams's writing
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
2005"Gravity" Christopher Tower Poetry Prize —Won [18]
2017Attrib. and Other Stories James Tait Black Memorial Prize —Won [3] [19]
2018 Dylan Thomas Prize —Longlisted [20]
Republic of Consciousness Prize —Won [2] [21]
2020"Scrimshaw" BBC National Short Story Award —Shortlisted [12] [22]
2021The Liar's Dictionary Betty Trask Prize and Awards Betty Trask AwardWon [23]
Desmond Elliott Prize —Shortlisted [24]

Selected bibliography

Novel

Collections

Short stories and essays

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References

  1. ↑ Revely-Calder, Cal (2017-04-01). "Attrib. and other stories by Eley Williams review – life's big microdrama moments". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  2. 1 2 Onwuemezi, Natasha (2018-03-20). "Influx wins Republic of Consciousness Prize". The Bookseller . Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  3. 1 2 "Literary duo join oldest book prizes' hall of fame". The University of Edinburgh . Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  4. ↑ Hensher, Philip. "The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story". Penguin. Archived from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  5. ↑ Waidner, Isabel (2018-01-16). "Liberating the Canon: Intersectionality and Innovation in Literature". 3:AM Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  6. ↑ "Not Here A Queer Anthology of Loneliness : P-U-N-C-H". p-u-n-c-h.ro. Archived from the original on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  7. ↑ Flood, Alison (2018-06-28). "Royal Society of Literature admits 40 new fellows to address historical biases". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  8. 1 2 "Dr Eley Williams". Royal Holloway, University of London. Archived from the original on 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  9. ↑ "About". JUNGFTAK. Archived from the original on 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  10. ↑ Cummins, Anthony (2020-07-14). "The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams review – a glorious way with words". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Stuart (2020-07-11). "Spotting the mountweazels: The Liar's Dictionary, by Eley Williams, reviewed". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  12. 1 2 "Scrimshaw by Eley Williams". BBC National Short Story Award 2020. BBC Radio 4. 2020-09-18. Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  13. ↑ "Gambits". BBC Radio 4. 1 November 2021. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Jordan, Justine (17 July 2020). "Hunting for mountweazels: Eley Williams on the fun - and responsibility - of dictionaries". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  15. ↑ Wolfe, Kathi (29 January 2024). "'Liar's Dictionary' a fab, queer tale for lovers of language". Washington Blade. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  16. ↑ Razzall, Katie (2023-04-13). "Granta: Eleanor Catton and Saba Sams make Best of Young British Novelists list". BBC News . Archived from the original on 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  17. ↑ "Granta Names 'Best of Young British Novelists'". Shelf Awareness . 2023-04-14. Archived from the original on 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  18. ↑ "Previous Competitions". Christ Church, Oxford University . Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  19. ↑ "Awards: James Tait Black". Shelf Awareness . 2018-08-21. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  20. ↑ "Awards: International Dylan Thomas; Branford Boase". Shelf Awareness . 2018-02-05. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  21. ↑ "Awards: Dylan Thomas International; Republic of Consciousness; B&N Discover". Shelf Awareness . 2018-03-28. Archived from the original on 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  22. ↑ "Sarah Hall Nominated for Fourth Time as 15th BBC National Short Story Award Reveals Bold, Experimental Shortlist Celebrating a Generation of Voices | BBC Short Story Awards". University of Cambridge. 2020-09-11. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  23. ↑ "Betty Trask Prize". The Society of Authors . 2020-05-08. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  24. ↑ "Awards: Governor General's Literary & IndieReader Discovery Winners, Desmond Elliott Shortlist". Shelf Awareness . 2021-06-04. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  25. ↑ "Our Books". Sad Press. 2016-09-25. Archived from the original on 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2019-06-23.

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