McCleen went to the University of Oxford to read English Literature aged 22.[4] She later completed a MA, also in English Literature, at the University of York.[1][2][5] She experienced opposition from her religious community to her decision to attend university.[6] "It was an enormous step and one I almost didn't take, and one I felt bad about taking for many years afterwards, until I realised I hadn't done anything wrong."[7]
McCleen has said that she will not continue to write fiction. "Writing is really destructive to me."[5] "I feel it's sort of like a knife in me".[9] She may, however, continue to write poetry.[10]
McCleen is also a musician, singer and songwriter.[12] She writes occasionally for The Guardian.[13]
Critical reception
The Land of Decoration was described by Amity Gaige in The New York Times Book Review as "Gripping ... philosophically sophisticated ... The writing is born of a genuine inquiry into the nature of religious belief, especially as it relates to one’s psychological development".[14]Chris Cleave in Financial Times called the book "loveable, unique and thrillingly uncategorisable ... an extraordinary and peculiarly haunting novel.’[15]Colin Greenland, however, in The Guardian, felt that "the world outside is ... contrived and confused ... [and that this] perilously weakens [McCleen's] argument".,[16] and Ron Charles, in The Washington Post, felt "Much of the language here is too flat and pedestrian. Other passages soar into flights of preciousness".[17]
The Professor of Poetry was described by Hilary Mantel as "an astonishing and luminous novel".[18] Hepzibah Anderson in The Observer found "sentences here of such agile cleverness, charged with wit and beauty and enchantment."[19] Kate Clanchy, also in The Observer, however, found it "conservative and anti-feminist".[20]
Sam Kitchener in The Telegraph said of The Offering that "Huge questions, of faith, time, reality, individual responsibility and human sexuality are given pained and peculiar answers".[21]Max Liu in The Independent wrote that "Some of the dense, descriptive passages are frustrating to read but difficulty is one of this novel’s enduring themes".[22]
1 2 "Writers in residence". Centre for New Writing. University of Manchester. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
↑ Kappala-Ramsamy, Gemma (26 February 2012). "Debut novelist: Grace McCleen". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
↑ Sophie (8 August 2015). "Q&A with Grace McCleen". Fiction Uncovered. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
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