Geraldine Bedell

Last updated

Geraldine Bedell is a British novelist and writer for The Observer .

Contents

She drew wide public attention when she claimed she had been disinvited from a planned appearance at the first International Festival of Literature in Dubai, because her novel The Gulf Between Us featured a homosexual sheikh. [1] [2] Writer Margaret Atwood cancelled her scheduled appearance but later retracted when she found out that Bedell had never been invited to the Festival nor had her book been banned. [3] Atwood subsequently made two virtual appearances at the Festival and appeared in person at the 2011 Festival. [4] [5] [6]

Family

She is married to Charles Leadbeater and is the sister of Elaine Bedell, [7] CEO of the Southbank Centre.

Bedell's first marriage was to banker Jonathan Norton, with whom she has two children. After their divorce Norton married Mo Mowlam in 2005. [8] Norton died on 3 February 2009.

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Atwood</span> Canadian writer (born 1939)

Margaret Eleanor Atwood is a Canadian novelist, poet, and literary critic. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children's books, two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. Her best-known work is the 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale. Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Governor General's Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, Princess of Asturias Awards, and the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonia Fraser</span> British author and novelist (born 1932)

Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and prior to his death was also known as Lady Antonia Pinter.

<i>The Handmaids Tale</i> 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government. Offred is the central character and narrator and one of the "Handmaids": women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "Commanders", who are the ruling class in Gilead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Drabble</span> English biographer, novelist and short story writer

Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer.

<i>The Blind Assassin</i> 2000 novel by Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin is a novel by the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 2000. The book is set in the fictional Ontario town of Port Ticonderoga and in Toronto. It is narrated from the present day, referring to previous events that span the twentieth century but mostly the 1930s and 1940s. It is a work of historical fiction with the major events of Canadian history forming an important backdrop, for example, the On-to-Ottawa Trek and a 1934 Communist rally at Maple Leaf Gardens. Greater verisimilitude is given by a series of newspaper articles commenting on events and on the novel's characters from a distance.

Thomas Graeme Cameron Gibson was a Canadian novelist. He was a Member of the Order of Canada (1992), a Senior Fellow of Massey College and one of the organizers of the Writers Union of Canada. He was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum</span> Ruler of Dubai (born 1949)

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the vice president and prime minister of the UAE. Mohammed succeeded his brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as UAE vice president, UAE prime minister, and ruler of Dubai following the latter's death in 2006.

<i>Oryx and Crake</i> 2003 novel by Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake is a 2003 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. She has described the novel as speculative fiction and adventure romance, rather than pure science fiction, because it does not deal with things "we can't yet do or begin to do", yet goes beyond the amount of realism she associates with the novel form. It focuses on a lone character called Snowman, who finds himself in a bleak situation with only creatures called Crakers to keep him company. The reader learns of his past, as a boy called Jimmy, and of genetic experimentation and pharmaceutical engineering that occurred under the purview of Jimmy's peer, Glenn "Crake".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Polley</span> Canadian actress, film director and screenwriter

Sarah Ellen Polley is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and retired actress. She first garnered attention as a child actress for her role as Ramona Quimby in the television series Ramona, based on Beverly Cleary's books. This subsequently led to her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996). She has starred in many feature films, including The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Guinevere (1999), Go (1999), The Weight of Water (2000), No Such Thing (2001), My Life Without Me (2003), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Splice (2009), and Mr. Nobody (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Trollope</span> British writer (b. 1943)

Joanna Trollope is an English writer. She has also written under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel Parson Harding's Daughter won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Morrison</span> English poet and author (born 1950)

Philip Blake Morrison FRSL is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? (1993), which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He has also written a study of the murder of James Bulger, As If. Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Ali</span> British writer, novelist (born 1967)

Monica Ali is a British writer of Bangladeshi and English descent. In 2003, she was selected as one of the "Best of Young British Novelists" by Granta based on her unpublished manuscript; her debut novel, Brick Lane, was published later that year. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. It was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name. She has also published four other novels. Her fifth novel, Love Marriage, was published by Virago Press in February 2022 and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Dubai</span>

Human rights in Dubai are based on the Constitution and enacted law, which promise equitable treatment of all people, regardless of race, nationality or social status, per Article 25 of the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates. Despite this, Freedom House has stated: "Extreme forms of self-censorship are widely practiced, particularly regarding issues such as local politics, culture, religion, or any other subject the government deems politically or culturally sensitive. The Dubai Media Free Zone (DMFZ), an area in which foreign media outlets produce print and broadcast material intended for foreign audiences, is the only arena where the press operates with relative freedom."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardine Evaristo</span> English author and academic (born 1959)

Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo is an English author and academic. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, making her the first Black woman to win the Booker. Evaristo is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and President of the Royal Society of Literature, the second woman and the first black person to hold the role since it was founded in 1820.

<i>The Year of the Flood</i> 2009 novel by Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the second book of her dystopian trilogy, released on September 22, 2009, in Canada and the United States, and on September 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom. The novel was mentioned in numerous newspaper review articles looking forward to notable fiction of 2009.

<i>The Gulf Between Us</i> 2009 novel by Geraldine Bedell

The Gulf Between Us is a 2009 novel by Geraldine Bedell. The novel is a romantic comedy set in a fictional Gulf emirate, with a word play on the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's Prize for Fiction</span> British prize for novel by female author (1996– )

The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction, Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes. It is awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. A sister prize, the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, was launched in 2023.

Mavis Mary Cheek was an English novelist. She was the author of fifteen novels, several of which have been translated into other languages. Cheeks' debut novel Pause Between Acts won the 1988 She/John Menzies First Novel Prize.

<i>Hag-Seed</i> 2016 novel by Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, published in October 2016. A modern retelling of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, the novel was commissioned by Random House as part of its Hogarth Shakespeare series.

<i>The Testaments</i> 2019 novel by Margaret Atwood

The Testaments is a 2019 novel by Margaret Atwood. It is the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale (1985). The novel is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale. It is narrated by Aunt Lydia, a character from the previous novel; Agnes, a young woman living in Gilead; and Daisy, a young woman living in Canada.

References

  1. Caroline Gammell "British author Geraldine Bedell banned from Dubai book festival British author Geraldine Bedell has been banned from a book festival in Dubai because one of the characters in her new book is gay", Daily Telegraph, 16 February 2009.
  2. Geraldine Bedell "The only offensive thing about my novel is that it's been banned", The Guardian (blog), 17 February 2009.
  3. Dugdale, John; Atwood, Margaret; Royle, Nicholas (21 February 2009). "Bedell never answered the letter of invitation in the first place". The Guardian.
  4. "Palin, Atwood to headline Dubai literary fest". Emirates 24/7. 13 December 2010.
  5. Addley, Esther (21 February 2009). "Atwood wrongfully led to believe that a book by Geraldine Bedell had been banned both from the festival and the Emirates themselves". The Guardian.
  6. Alison Flood "Atwood pulls out of Dubai festival in censorship protest", The Guardian, 18 February 2009.
  7. "Media families 20: The Bedells", The Independent, 30 June 1997
  8. "Marriages England and Wales 1984–2006". Findmypast.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2010.