William Fiennes (author)

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The Honourable

William Fiennes
BornWilliam John Fiennes
(1970-08-07) 7 August 1970 (age 54)
Oxfordshire, England
OccupationAuthor
NationalityBritish
Education Eton College
Alma mater Oxford University
GenreMemoir
Notable worksThe Snow Geese
The Music Room
Notable awards2003 Hawthornden Prize
Parents Nathaniel Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele
Mariette Salisbury-Jones
Relatives Susannah Fiennes (sister)
Website
William Fiennes

William John Fiennes FRSL (born 7 August 1970) is an English author best known for his memoirs The Snow Geese (2002) and The Music Room (2009).

Contents

Early life and education

Fiennes was born into the aristocratic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family and raised in 14th-century Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire, the youngest of five children of Nathaniel Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele (1920−2024) and Mariette Salisbury-Jones (b. 1935). [1] The artist Susannah Fiennes and the 22nd Baron Saye and Sele are his twin siblings, and his maternal grandfather was the soldier and courtier Guy Salisbury-Jones. One of William's brothers died in a road accident at the age of three before he was born, and another brother, Richard, developed epilepsy which caused aggression and mood swings (and eventually his death at the age of 41). [2] [3]

Fiennes was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, [4] Eton College, and Oxford University, where he received both undergraduate and graduate degrees. [3]

Writing

Fiennes' first book, The Snow Geese (2002), is his account of how he followed snow geese from Texas to their summer breeding grounds on Baffin Island, and a meditation on the idea of home. Mark Cocker reviewed it for The Guardian, writing: "The Snow Geese is the debut of a striking talent". [5] It was shortlisted for the 2002 Samuel Johnson Prize and won the 2003 Hawthornden Prize, the 2003 Somerset Maugham Award and the 2003 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. [6]

His second book, The Music Room (2009), is his memoir of growing up in an English castle with an elder brother, Richard, who suffered from severe epilepsy which caused mood swings and intermittent aggression, but who could also be very loving and creative. The Music Room was called "a small masterpiece, a tribute to the power of place, family and memory" by Nicholas Shakespeare, who reviewed it for the Telegraph. [7] It was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, the Duff Cooper Prize, the Ondaatje Prize, the PEN/Ackerley Prize and the Independent Booksellers' Book of the Year Award. [8]

Fiennes has also written for Granta , the London Review of Books , The Observer , the Daily Telegraph and the Times Literary Supplement . [9]

In 2011, Fiennes contributed a short fable, "Why the Ash has Black Buds", to an anthology titled Why Willows Weep. Sales from the book raised funds for The Woodland Trust and its mission to plant native trees throughout Great Britain. [10]

In 2018, he contributed a chapter to the book Beneath the Skin: Great Writers on the Body (Profile Books). The chapter is about two years in his early 20s when the chronic illness Crohn's disease forced him to live with part of his intestines protruding outside of his abdominal cavity through a surgical incision. [11] First diagnosed at the age of nineteen, he has undergone several surgeries and hospitalisations over the years and in 2009, he called his struggle with Crohn's "exhausting and demoralising". [12] [2]

Other work

Fiennes spent two years as Fellow in the Creative Arts at Wolfson College, Oxford and in 2007, he was named Writer-in-Residence at the American School in London and at Cranford Community College, Hounslow. [6] Since 2011, he has taught Creative Writing at Newcastle University. [13]

Personal life

William Fiennes is a second cousin of the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and a distant relative of the travel writer Celia Fiennes (1662–1741). [14] He is a third cousin of the actors Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes. [15]

He plays cricket as a member of the Authors XI team of British writers and contributed a chapter, "Cricket and Memory" (which concludes with him breaking his collarbone while diving to make a catch), to the team's 2013 book about their first year together, The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon. Team captain Charlie Campbell describes Fiennes in the book as "the best fielder in the side and the most stylish batsman", while teammate Jon Hotten calls him "undoubtedly the nicest man in cricket". [16]

In 2007, Fiennes co-founded the charity First Story, which brings acclaimed authors to secondary schools in low-income communities, where they run writing workshops for students to foster creativity. [17]

He was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Saye and Sele</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Baron Saye and Sele is a title in the Peerage of England held by the Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family. The title dates to 1447 but it was recreated in 1603. Confusion over the details of the 15th-century title has led to conflicting order for titleholders; authorities such as Burke's Peerage and Debrett's Peerage do not agree on whether or not the 1447 creation is still extant.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathaniel Fiennes</span> 17th-century English politician and religious radical

Nathaniel Fiennes, c. 1608 to 16 December 1669, was a younger son of the Puritan nobleman and politician, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1659, and served with the Parliamentarian army in the First English Civil War. In 1643, he was dismissed from the army for alleged incompetence after surrendering Bristol and sentenced to death before being pardoned. Exonerated in 1645, he actively supported Oliver Cromwell during The Protectorate, being Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1655 to 1659.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele</span> 15th-century English soldier and politician

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shutford</span> Village in Oxfordshire, England

Shutford is a village and civil parish in the Cherwell district, in Oxfordshire, England, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Banbury. The village is about 475 feet (145 m) above sea level. In 2011 the parish had a population of 476. In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Shutford like this:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broughton, Oxfordshire</span> Village in Oxfordshire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broughton Castle</span> Medieval manor house in Oxfordshire, England

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Viscount Saye and Sele was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 7 July 1624 for William Fiennes, 8th Baron Saye and Sele, who thus became the 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. The title became extinct on the death of Richard Fiennes 6th Viscount on 29 July 1781.

Nathaniel Thomas Allen Fiennes, 21st Baron Saye and Sele,, styled as Lord Saye and Sele, was an English peer, businessman, chartered surveyor and army officer.

Geoffrey Cecil Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 18th Baron Saye and Sele was an English soldier and Liberal politician from the Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family. He served as Comptroller of the Household between 1912 and 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fiennes</span>

John Fiennes was the third son of Puritan noble and politician William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. He served in the Parliamentarian army during the First English Civil War, before resigning his commission when elected MP for Morpeth in 1645. Excluded from Parliament by Pride's Purge in December 1648, he largely avoided politics thereafter but was appointed to Cromwell's Upper House in 1658.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Fiennes, 2nd Viscount Saye and Sele</span> English peer and MP

James Fiennes, 2nd Viscount Saye and Sele was an English peer and MP at various times between 1625 and 1660, when he succeeded his father and entered the House of Lords.

The Venerable Frederick Fiennes, 16th Baron Saye and Sele, MA (1799–1887) was Archdeacon of Hereford from 1863 to 1887.

Richard Fiennes, 7th and 1st Baron Saye and Sele was an English peer and diplomat.

Major General Thomas Twisleton, 13th Baron Saye and Sele was a British Army officer and peer.

The Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family are the descendants of the 16th Baron Saye and Sele who was born Frederick Benjamin Twisleton and adopted the surname Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes in 1849 by Act of Parliament. He was the grandson of Thomas Twisleton, 13th Baron Saye and Sele and inherited the barony from his first cousin William Thomas Eardley-Twisleton-Fiennes in 1847. The surname is frequently shortened to Fiennes. Members of the family include the explorer Ranulph Fiennes and the actors Ralph Fiennes, Joseph Fiennes, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

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Wingfield Stratford Twisleton Wykeham Fiennes was an English first-class cricketer and clergyman.

John Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 17th Baron Saye and Sele was an English peer and first-class cricketer.

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References

  1. ↑ The Descent of Broughton, Broughton Castle, UK.
  2. 1 2 "Here be gargoyles: an interview with William Fiennes". The Scotsman. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 Leith, William (10 April 2009). "An Englishman's Castle". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  4. ↑ "Eminent Dragons". Dragon School. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Cocker, Mark (29 March 2002). "Stairway to Heaven". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  6. 1 2 "William Fiennes—Literature". The British Council. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  7. ↑ Shakespeare, Nicholas (2 April 2009). "The Music Room by William Fiennes: Review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. ↑ Daniel, Smriti (13 March 2011). "William Fiennes: Once Upon a Time in a Castle". Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Biography, Pan Macmillan.
  10. ↑ Fielden, Tom (10 October 2011). "From weeping willows to mighty oaks". BBC News. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  11. ↑ Fiennes, William (17 October 2018). "Life after bowel surgery: I was like the Pompidou centre, my pipes on the outside". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  12. ↑ An Englishman's castle, The Guardian , 11 April 2009.
  13. ↑ "Staff Profile – English Literature, Language and Linguistics". Newcastle University. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  14. ↑ Abel-Smith, Julia (Winter 2002). "Focus on Broughton Castle". Historic House Association Magazine. Vol. 26, No. 4. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  15. ↑ Lyall, Sarah (23 September 2009). "Recalling a home that really is a castle". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  16. ↑ Authors Cricket Club (2013). The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN   978-1-4088-4045-0.
  17. ↑ "5-minute interview with William Fiennes". London Book Fair. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  18. ↑ "Royal Society of Literature " William Fiennes". rsliterature.org. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
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