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Author | Max Porter |
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Language | English |
Publisher | Faber and Faber |
Publication date | 2015 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Awards | Dylan Thomas Prize |
ISBN | 9780571323760 |
Followed by | Lanny |
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is the debut book by Max Porter, a novella about grief, published in 2015. [1] [2] [3]
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is a "book about death and its grief-stricken consolations – love and art" through the story "of a grieving writer and father of two young boys, who is coming to terms with the death of his wife while writing a book about Ted Hughes". It uses text, dialogue and poetry. [4] The book is narrated from rapidly alternating perspectives: the Dad, the Boys, and Crow—a human-sized bird that can speak, "equal parts babysitter, philosopher and therapist" to the family. [5] [6]
The title refers to a poem by Emily Dickinson, ""Hope" is the thing with feathers". [7] Crow is the Crow from Ted Hughes' 1970 poetry book. [8]
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Goldsmiths Prize | — | Shortlisted | [9] [10] [11] |
Guardian First Book Award | — | Shortlisted | [12] | |
2016 | Books Are My Bag Readers' Award | Fiction | Won | [13] [14] |
Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Won | [15] [16] | |
Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award | — | Won | [17] | |
2017 | Europese Literatuurprijs | — | Won | [18] |
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers was adapted into a play of the same name, directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy. [19]
In 2024, a film adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch, titled The Thing with Feathers , began production. Principal photography was underway by early 2024. [20] [21]