Anne Billson

Last updated

Anne Billson (born 1954) is a writer, photographer, and film critic who was born in Southport, England. Her fiction is characterized by the combination of horror with satire and includes the novels Suckers (1993), Stiff Lips (1997), The Ex (2012), [1] The Coming Thing (2017) and The Half Man (2019). In 2019, she self-published a fantasy novel, Blood Pearl.[ citation needed ] Granta named Billson one of the "Best Young British Novelists" in 1993.

Billson was the film critic of The Sunday Telegraph (1992–2001), The Sunday Correspondent (1989-1990), and Today (1986). She has written film reviews for Time Out , Tatler (1989–90), and the New Statesman & Society (1991–92). [2] Billson has written several volumes of nonfiction, including monographs on movies such as John Carpenter's The Thing and Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In . Her 2017 book Cats on Film claims to be "the definitive work of feline film scholarship." [3]

In 2015, she was chosen by the British Film Institute as one of “25 Female Film Critics Worth Celebrating.” [4] She has lived in London, Tokyo, Paris, Croydon and Brussels, and now lives in Antwerp. She is a programmer and presenter at Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Brontë</span> English novelist and poet (1816–1855)

Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Stoppard</span> British playwright (born 1937)

Sir Tom Stoppard is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical thematics of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. Stoppard was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audrey Hepburn</span> British actress (1929–1993)

Audrey Kathleen Hepburn was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema and was inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Lessing</span> British-Zimbabwean novelist (1919–2013)

Doris May Lessing was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia, where she remained until moving in 1937 to Salisbury, England, followed by London in 1949. Her novels include The Grass Is Singing (1950), the sequence of five novels collectively called Children of Violence (1952–1969), The Golden Notebook (1962), The Good Terrorist (1985), and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos: Archives (1979–1983).

Anne Fine OBE FRSL is an English writer. Although best known for children's books, she also writes for adults. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and she was appointed an OBE in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanne Harris</span> English-French author (born 1963)

Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris is an English-French author, best known for her novel Chocolat (1999), which was adapted the following year for the film Chocolat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Carter</span> English novelist

Angela Olive Pearce, who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works. She is mainly known for her book The Bloody Chamber (1979). In 1984, her short story "The Company of Wolves" was adapted into a film of the same name. In 2008, The Times ranked Carter tenth in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In 2012, Nights at the Circus was selected as the best ever winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buchi Emecheta</span> Nigerian writer (1944–2017)

Florence Onyebuchi "Buchi" Emecheta was a Nigerian-born novelist, based in the UK from 1962, who also wrote plays and an autobiography, as well as works for children. She was the author of more than 20 books, including Second Class Citizen (1974), The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977) and The Joys of Motherhood (1979). Most of her early novels were published by Allison and Busby, where her editor was Margaret Busby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roddy Doyle</span> Irish author and screenwriter

Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis King</span> British writer

Francis Henry King was a British novelist and short story writer. He worked for the British Council for 15 years, with positions in Europe and Japan. For 25 years, he was a chief book reviewer for the Sunday Telegraph, and for 10 years its theatre critic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoë Heller</span> English journalist and novelist

Zoë Kate Hinde Heller is an English journalist and novelist long resident in New York City. She has published three novels, Everything You Know (1999), Notes on a Scandal (2003), and The Believers (2008). Notes on a Scandal was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and was adapted for a feature film in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Warner</span> English novelist, short story writer, historian and mythographer

Dame Marina Sarah Warner, is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publications, including The London Review of Books, the New Statesman, Sunday Times and Vogue. She has been a visiting professor, given lectures and taught on the faculties of many universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romola Garai</span> British actress

Romola Sadie Garai is a British actress and film director. Known for her extensive work on stage and screen she often acts in period films. Her early film roles include Nicholas Nickleby (2002), I Capture the Castle (2003), Inside I'm Dancing (2004), and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004). She's gained prominence for her performances in the critically acclaimed costume dramas such as Vanity Fair (2004), As You Like It (2006), Amazing Grace (2007), Atonement (2007), Glorious 39 (2009), and Suffragette (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maureen Duffy</span> English poet and novelist, born 1933

Maureen Patricia Duffy is an English poet, playwright, novelist and non-fiction author. Long an activist covering such issues as gay rights and animal rights, she campaigns especially on behalf of authors. She has received the Benson Medal for her lifelong writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. A. Lejeune</span> British film critic and writer (1897–1973)

Caroline Alice Lejeune was a British writer, best known for serving as the film critic for The Observer from 1928 to 1960. She was among the earliest newspaper film critics in Britain, and one of the first British women in the profession. She formed an enduring friendship early in her career with Alfred Hitchcock, “when he was writing and ornamenting sub-titles for silent pictures,” as she later wrote.

Celia Haddon is a British journalist, author and expert on feline behaviour. Her books have sold over 1 million copies.

Penelope Gilliatt was an English novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film critic. As one of the main film critics for The New Yorker magazine in the 1960s and 1970s, Gilliatt was known for her detailed descriptions and evocative reviews. A writer of short stories, novels, non-fiction books, and screenplays, Gilliatt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971).

Andrew Timothy Birkin is an English screenwriter and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anupama Chopra</span> Indian film critic

Anupama Chopra (née Chandra) is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a film critic for NDTV, India Today, as well as the Hindustan Times. She also hosted a weekly film review show The Front Row With Anupama Chopra, on Star World. She won the 2000 National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema for her first book Sholay: The Making of a Classic. She presently critiques movies and interviews celebrities for Film Companion.

Wendy Perriam is a British novelist, whose work often reflects her strict convent background, against which she rebelled sharply, and her stories contain much explicit sexual content. She has also appeared frequently on radio and TV.

References

  1. "Anne Billson - Literature". literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  2. "About". Multiglom. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  3. "CATS ON FILM". CATS ON FILM. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  4. "A pantheon of one's own: 25 female film critics worth celebrating | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Retrieved 31 July 2019.