Kirsty Gunn

Kirsty Gunn
Born	New Zealand
Occupation	Writer
Notable work	The Boy and the Sea (2006), The Big Music (2012), Infidelities (2014)
Awards	Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award, New Zealand Post Book Awards Book of the Year award, Edge Hill Short Story Prize
Website	www.kirsty-gunn.com

Kirsty Gunn (born 1960, New Zealand) is a novelist, essayist, short story writer, and professor of creative writing. She has won the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award, the New Zealand Post Book Awards Book of the Year award, and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.

Education and academic career

Gunn studied at Victoria University and Oxford University. ^[1]

She has taught creative writing at Oxford University. ^[1] She is currently a Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Dundee ^{[1] [2]} and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, ^[3] the Royal Literary Fund, ^[4] and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. ^[5]

Writing career

Gunn's debut, the short novel "Rain", was published in 1994. ^{[6] [7]} In 2001, the novel was adapted as both a film of the same name, directed by Christine Jeffs, ^[8] and as a ballet by the Rosas Company, set to "Music for Eighteen Musicians", a 1976 score by Steve Reich. ^[9]

Gunn's first collection of short stories, This Place You Return To Is Home, was published in 1999 and received a Scottish Arts Council Bursary for Literature. ^{[9] [1]} The collection included a story, 'Tinsel Bright', that was selected for The Faber Book of Contemporary Stories About Childhood in 1997. ^[10]

Her fourth novel, The Boy and the Sea, was published in 2006. It won the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award in 2007. ^[2]

Her 2012 novel "The Big Music" won the Book of the Year in the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards. ^{[11] [12]} The novel took seven years to write, and was inspired by pibroch, the classical music of the Great Highland Bagpipe. ^[13]

Gunn's 2014 short story collection, Infidelities, won the Edge Hill Short Story Prize ^[14] and was shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor Award. ^[15]

Gunn's most recent novel, Caroline's Bikini, was published in 2018. A metafictional romance, The Guardian described it as "bold and brainy" but "frustrating". ^[16] The Times Literary Supplement described it as "a clever, sly novel about the nature of the fictional and the real". ^[17]

In 2024, Gunn published her third short fiction collection, Pretty Ugly. ^{[18] [19]} It was a finalist for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. ^[20]

Gunn has also published works that combine essay, fiction and autobiography, including 44 Things (2007) ^{[9] [21] [22]} and My Katherine Mansfield Project (2015) (published in New Zealand as Thorndon: Wellington and Home: My Katherine Mansfield Project). ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Awards and nominations

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2007	The Boy and the Sea	Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book Awards	Fiction	Won	[26]
			Book of the Year	Won
2013	The Big Music	New Zealand Post Book Awards	Fiction	Won	[27]
			NZ Post Book of the Year	Won
		James Tait Black Memorial Prize	Fiction	Shortlisted	[28]
2015	Infidelities	Edge Hill Short Story Prize	—	Won	[29]
		Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award	—	Shortlisted	[30] [31]

Works

Novels

• —— (1994). Rain. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN   0571173004.
• —— (1997). The Keepsake. London: Granta Books. ISBN   186207013X.
• —— (2002). Featherstone. London: Faber. ISBN   0571212476.
• —— (2006). The Boy and the Sea. London: Faber. ISBN   978-0571230198.
• —— (2012). The Big Music. London: Faber. ISBN   978-0571282333.
• —— (2018). Caroline's Bikini. London: Faber. ISBN   978-0571339327.

Short stories

• —— (1999). This Place You Return To Is Home. London: Granta. ISBN   1862072353.
• —— (2014). Infidelities. London: Faber. ISBN   978-0571308910.
• —— (2024). Pretty Ugly. London: Rough Trade Books. ISBN   978-1914236419.

Other

• —— (2006). 44 Things: A Year of Life at Home. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN   978-1843545521.
• —— (2015). My Katherine Mansfield Project. Kendal: Notting Hill Editions. ISBN   978-1910749043.
• —— (2016). Going Bush. London: Sylph Editions. ISBN   978-1909631175.
• —— (2016). Notes Towards a National Literature. Edinburgh: Saltire Society. ISBN   978-0854111220.

As contributor, co-author or editor

• Greer, Bonnie; Roberts, Michèle; Bailey, Hilary; Pullinger, Kate; Randhawa, Ravi; Gunn, Kirsty; Segrave, Elisa; Faress, Souad; Gittins, Chrissie; Kaye, Geraldine; Rafferty, Stella; Rock, Daphne; Whiteson, Karen (1995). LeFanu, Sarah (ed.). How Maxine Learned to Love her Legs and Other Tales of Growing Up. London: Aurora Metro Books. ISBN   978-0-9515877-4-4.
• Low, Gail Ching-Liang; Gunn, Kirsty, eds. (2016). The Voyage Out: An Anthology. Dundee: The Voyage Out Press. ISBN   978-0995512306.
• Low, Gail Ching-Liang; Gunn, Kirsty, eds. (2019). Vaulted Marvels. Dundee: The Voyage Out Press. ISBN   978-0995512399.
• Low, Gail Ching-Liang; Gunn, Kirsty, eds. (2022). Imagined Spaces. Dundee: The Voyage Out Press. ISBN   978-0995512344.
• ——, ed. (2022). Such a Sweet Singing: Poetry to Empower Every Woman. London: Batsford Books. ISBN   978-1849947152.

References

1. "Professor Kirsty Gunn". Dundee University. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
2. "Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year 2007 - Winner announced". Scottish Arts Council. 18 August 2007. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
3. "RSL 200: Kirsty Gunn FRSL". Royal Society of Literature. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
4. "Kirsty Gunn". Royal Literary Fund. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
5. "Dundee academics elected Fellows of the RSE". University of Dundee. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
6. "Rain". Faber. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
7. "rev. of Rain by Kirsty Gunn". Ploughshares. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
8. "Rain". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
9. "Kirsty Gunn". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
10. The Faber Book of Contemporary Stories about Childhood. Faber and Faber. 1997. ISBN   0571170838.
11. Dass, Kiran. "Kirsty Gunn". Unity Books. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
12. Thorpe, Adam (27 July 2012). "The Big Music by Kirsty Gunn – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
13. Thought, The. "Kirsty Gunn on 'The Big Music'". The Thought Fox. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
14. "The Edge Hill Short Story Prize". Edge Hill University. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
15. "Kirsty Gunn wins major short story award". University of Dundee. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
16. Cummins, Anthony (26 June 2018). "Caroline's Bikini by Kirsty Gunn – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
17. "The great engine of unrequited love". TLS. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
18. "Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn". New Zealand Review of Books. 3 November 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
19. "Pretty Ugly". Caught by the River. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
20. "Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025 finalists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
21. "44 Things: My Year at Home" . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
22. Gunn, Kirsty (24 February 2007). "You ask me if I'm lonely". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
23. "Homesick Blues". TLS. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
24. "My Katherine Mansfield Project". Books from Scotland. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
25. "Talking with Kirsty Gunn". The New Zealand Herald. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
26. Loughlin, Helen (20 August 2007). "Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book Awards". EdinburghGuide.com. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
27. "Past Winners". New Zealand Book Awards. New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
28. "Oldest book award shortlist unveiled". BBC News. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
29. "Previous shortlists and winners". The Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Edge Hill University. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
30. "Carys Davies wins the 2015 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award". Fiction Uncovered. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
31. "Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award". Munster Literature Centre. Retrieved 19 August 2025.

External links

• British Council Literature page
• Official site