Английская Википедия:Fred Urquhart (writer)
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:About Шаблон:Infobox writer Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:EngvarBFred Urquhart or Frederick Burrows Urquhart (12 July 1912 – 2 December 1995) was a Scottish short story writer, novelist, editor and reviewer.[1] He is considered Scotland's leading short story writer of the 20th-century.[2][3] Writing in the Manchester Evening News in November 1944, George Orwell praised Urquhart's "remarkable gift for constructing neat stories with convincing dialogue."[4]
Early life
Urquhart was born in Edinburgh.[2] His father was chauffeur to wealthy Scottish families, including the Marquess of Breadalbane at Taymouth Castle.[5] He spent much of his childhood in Fife, Perthshire and Wigtownshire.[1] He attended village schools, followed by Stranraer High School and Broughton Secondary School.[5][2]
On leaving school at the age of fifteen, he worked in a bookshop from 1927 to 1934.[3][2] Because he was a pacifist and conscientious objector, during World War II, he worked on the land at Laurencekirk in the Mearns and later at Woburn Abbey.[3][5][1] On visits to London, where he later lived, he met George Orwell and the Scottish painters Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde.[3]
Career
Writer
In 1936, Urquhart published his first short story, followed by his first novel Time Will Knit in 1938.[2][5] He went on to publish four novels and more eight volumes of short stories.[2][3] The novel Jezebel's Dust (1951) is considered one of his best works.[1] Many of his stories were read on the radio.[3] Palace of Green Days was a Book at Bedtime in 1985.[6][3]
Many of his stories revolved around rural life, set in the fictional town of Auchencairn in the Mearns countryside south of Aberdeen.[1][2] The theme of many of these stories was a desire to escape the drudgery of every-day working-class life.[2] One of these stories, "The Ploughing Match," won the Tom–Gallon Trust Award for 1951.[2]
He also wrote many stories about violence against women and was known for the way he sensitively portrayed women.[2][1][5] Compton Mackenzie said Urquhart had a "remarkable talent for depicting women young and old."[2] "We Never Died in Winter" is considered a good example of one of his stories about working-class girls.[2]
In the 1960s, he published several volumes of short stories with historical and supernatural themes.[2] One obituarist said, "His skill was to show characters in everyday, conversational action".
Publishing
Starting in 1947, Urquhart worked as a reader for a literary agency in London until 1951.,[2] From 1951 to 1954 he read scripts for Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer.[5] From 1951 to 1974 he was a reader for Cassell and Company in London.[5][2] He was a London scout for Walt Disney Productions from 1959 to 1960.[2] From 1967 to 1971, he was a reader for J. M. Dent and Sons in London.[5][2]
He had a particular love of horses and edited illustrated anthology The Book of Horses in 1981.[1] He also edited a number of books and wrote reviews for magazines and newspapers.[3]
Awards
- Tom–Gallon Trust Award, for "The Ploughing Match," 1951[2]
- Arts Council of Great Britain grant, 1966[2]
- Arts Council of Great Britain bursary, 1978[2]
- Scottish Arts Council grant, 1975[2]
- Arts Council of Great Britain bursary, 1985[2]
Personal life
Urquhart was homosexual.[1] He moved to Ashdown Forest in East Sussex in 1958 with his companion, the dancer Peter Wyndham Allen, but when Wyndham Allen died in 1990 Urquhart moved back to Scotland.[1] He was a friend of Rhys Davies, with whom he shared a cottage in Tring in 1946,[7] and of Norah Hoult.[8]
Urquhart died in Haddington, East Lothian at the age of 83.[5]
Selected bibliography
Novels
- Time Will Knit (Duckworth, 1938)
- The Ferret was Abraham's Daughter (Methuen, 1949)
- Jezebel's Dust (Methuen,1951)
- Palace of Green Days (Quartet Books, 1979) Шаблон:ISBN
Short story collections
- I Fell for a Sailor (Duckworth, 1940)
- Selected Stories ( Maurice Fridberg, 1946)
- The Clouds are Big with Mercy (William MacLellan, 1946)
- The Last GI Bride Wore Tartan (Serif Books of Edinburgh, 1947)
- The Year of the Short Corn and Other Stories (Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1949)
- The Last Sister (Methuen, 1950)
- The Laundry Girl and the Pole (Arco, 1955)
- Dying Stallion: The Collected Stories, Vol. 1 (Rupert Hart-Davis, 1967)
- The Ploughing Match: The Collected Stories, Vol. 2 (Rupert Hart-Davis,1968)
- Proud Lady in a Cage (Paul Harris Publishing, 1980) Шаблон:ISBN
- Seven Ghosts in Search (Kimber / HarperCollins Distribution, 1983) Шаблон:ISBN
- A Diver in China Seas (Quartet Books, 1980) Шаблон:ISBN
- Full Score: Short Stories (Aberdeen University Press, 1989) Шаблон:ISBN
- A Goal for Miss Valentino (Kennedy & Boyd, 2014) Шаблон:ISBN
Writings in anthologies
- The Unlikely Ghosts (Mayflower Books, 1969) Шаблон:ISBN
- Ten Modern Scottish Stories. Robert Millar, ed. (Heinemann Educational Books, 1973) Шаблон:ISBN
- Scottish Short Stories 1974. (Harper Collins, 1974). Шаблон:ISBN
- Further Modern Scottish Stories. Robert Millar and John Thomas Low, editors. (Heinemann Educational Books, 1976) Шаблон:ISBN
- Scottish Ghost Stories. Giles Gordon, ed. (Lomond Books, 1976)
- As I Remember: Ten Scottish Authors recall How Writing Began for Them. Maurice Lindsay, ed. (Robert Hale & Company, 1979) Шаблон:ISBN
- "Lillie Langtry’s Silver Cup". The Fourth Book of After Midnight Stories ( William Kimber & Co Ltd, 1988) Шаблон:ISBN
- "Introduction," Creepy Stories (Bracken Books, 1994) Шаблон:ISBN
Writings in magazines
- "Cristopher Rush: Peace Comes Dropping Slow." The Scottish Review of Books, no. 31, 1983
- "Cooee' Cried the Parrot" Cencrastus, no. 44, 1993.
Compiler or editor
- No Scottish Twilight: New Scottish Stories. (William Maclellan, 1947)
- W.S.C. A Cartoon Biography (Cassell & Company, 1955) Шаблон:ISBN
- Great True War Adventures. (Arco Publishers, 1956) Шаблон:ISBN
- Great True Escape Stories. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1958).
- The Cassell Miscellany 1848-1958. (Cassell, 1958).
- Freeman, William. Dictionary of Fictional Characters. Revised by Fred Urquhart. (The Writer, Inc., 1974) Шаблон:ISBN
- Modern Scottish Short Stories (Faber & Faber, 1978) Шаблон:ISBN
- The Book of Horses (1981) Шаблон:ISBN
References
Шаблон:ReflistШаблон:Authority control
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6 1,7 1,8 Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ 2,00 2,01 2,02 2,03 2,04 2,05 2,06 2,07 2,08 2,09 2,10 2,11 2,12 2,13 2,14 2,15 2,16 2,17 2,18 2,19 2,20 2,21 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ 3,0 3,1 3,2 3,3 3,4 3,5 3,6 3,7 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ George Orwell, Collected works, I Have Tried to Tell the Truth, p.471
- ↑ 5,0 5,1 5,2 5,3 5,4 5,5 5,6 5,7 5,8 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- Английская Википедия
- 1912 births
- 1995 deaths
- People educated at Stranraer Academy
- Writers from Edinburgh
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