Francis Spufford

Francis Spufford

FRSL
Spufford in 2024
Born1964 (age 61–62)
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • non-fiction author
PeriodSince 1989
Notable worksGolden Hill
Website
gold.ac.uk/music-english-theatre/people/f-spufford//

Francis Spufford FRSL (born 1964)[1] is an English author and writing teacher. His first novel Golden Hill received critical acclaim and numerous prizes including the Costa Book Award for First Novel,[2] the Desmond Elliott Prize,[3] and the Ondaatje Prize.[4] In 2007 Spufford was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Career

Spufford was chief publisher's reader from 1987–1990 for Chatto & Windus.[1] He was a Royal Literary Fund fellow at Anglia Ruskin University from 2005 to 2007.[5] He is a creative writing professor at Goldsmiths, University of London.[6]

Spufford specialised in non-fiction for the first part of his career, but began a transition towards fiction in 2010. In 2016 he published his first novel, Golden Hill.[7]

Spufford has also edited three anthologies: The Chatto Book of Cabbages and Kings (1989), The Chatto Book of the Devil (1992), and The Antarctic (2008).

Spufford has written an unauthorised novel set in the universe of C. S. Lewis's Narnia series, The Stone Table. The novel takes place between The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Spufford distributed self-printed copies to friends. Writer Adam Roberts praised it as "a seamless recreation of Lewis's writing-style at its best". The author hoped to obtain permission from the C. S. Lewis estate to publish it commercially, but did not receive a response from the estate.[8]

Personal life

Spufford was born in 1964.[1] He is the son of social historian Margaret Spufford and economic historian Peter Spufford. He studied English literature at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, receiving a BA in 1985.[7] Spufford lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[9]

A former atheist,[10] he is now a practising Christian and is married to an Anglican priest, Jessica Martin. The couple have two children.[11][12] He served from 2015 to 2021 on the General Synod of the Church of England as a lay representative of the Diocese of Ely.[13][1]

Awards

Year Title Award Category Result Ref.
1997 I May Be Some Time Somerset Maugham Award — Won [14]
Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award — Won [15]
2003 Backroom Boys Aventis Prize — Nominated [16]
2010 Red Plenty BSFA Award Non-Fiction Shortlisted [17]
2011 Orwell Prize — Longlisted [18]
Ondaatje Prize — Shortlisted [19]
2016 Golden Hill Books Are My Bag Readers' Award Beautiful Book Shortlisted [20]
Costa Book Award for First Novel — Won [2]
2017 Authors' Club Best First Novel Award — Shortlisted [21]
British Book Awards Debut Novel of the Year Shortlisted [22]
Desmond Elliott Prize — Won [3]
Ondaatje Prize — Won [4]
Rathbones Folio Prize — Shortlisted [23]
Walter Scott Prize — Shortlisted [24]
2018 Europese Literatuurprijs — Longlisted [25]
RUSA CODES Reading Award Historical Fiction Shortlisted [26]
2021 Light Perpetual Booker Prize — Longlisted [27]
HWA Crown Awards Gold Longlisted [28]
2022 Encore Award — Won [29]
2024 Cahokia Jazz Sidewise Award for Alternate History Long Form Won [30]

Published work

  • I May Be Some Time (1996)
  • The Child That Books Built (2002)
  • Backroom Boys (2003)
  • Red Plenty (2010)
  • Unapologetic: Why Despite Everything, Christianity can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense (2012)
  • Golden Hill (2016)
  • True Stories and Other Essays (2017)
  • Light Perpetual (2021)
  • Cahokia Jazz (2023)
  • Nonesuch (2026)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Kellaway, Kate (12 February 2022). "Francis Spufford: 'I felt that to call myself a writer would be a boast'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b Masters, Tim (31 January 2017). "Costa Book of the Year: Sebastian Barry celebrates second win". BBC News. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b Onwuemezi, Natasha (21 June 2017). "Golden Hill wins £10k Desmond Elliott Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  4. ^ a b Kean, Danuta (8 May 2017). "Francis Spufford wins the Ondaatje prize with Golden Hill". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Francis Spufford". Royal Literary Fund. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  6. ^ "Professor Francis Spufford". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  7. ^ a b "Professor Francis Spufford". Trinity Hall Cambridge. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  8. ^ Lea, Richard (19 March 2019). "Francis Spufford pens unauthorised Narnia novel". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  9. ^ Care, Adam (3 January 2017). "Ely author 'gobsmacked' to be shortlisted for 2016 Costa Book of the Year award". Cambridgeshire Live. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  10. ^ Oldfield, Elizabeth (25 December 2019). "Why aren't we all atheists?". UnHerd.
  11. ^ "Revd Canon Dr Jessica Martin to be a Residentiary Canon". Ely Cathedral. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016.
  12. ^ "The Rev Canon Dr Jessica Martin to be the next Dean of Chelmsford". Diocese of Chelmsford. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  13. ^ "General Synod election results". Church Times. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  14. ^ "Somerset Maugham Awards". The Society of Authors. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  15. ^ "Francis Spufford". Young Writer of the Year Award. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  16. ^ Mcdonald, Maggie (15 June 2004). "Science book prize won by travel writer". New Scientist. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  17. ^ Worthen, Shana (17 January 2011). "2010 BSFA Awards Shortlists". Vector. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  18. ^ "Red Plenty". The Orwell Foundation. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  19. ^ Allen, Katie (24 May 2011). "De Waal wins RSL Ondaatje prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  20. ^ "BAMB Readers Awards Presented". Booksellers Association. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  21. ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (12 April 2017). "Spufford on shortlist for Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2017". The Bookseller. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Hachette and Penguin Random House lead British Book Awards Books of the Year shortlists". The Bookseller. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017.
  23. ^ Cain, Sian (6 April 2017). "Folio prize returns with nonfiction joining novels on the 2017 shortlist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  24. ^ "Walter Scott historical fiction prize shortlist revealed". BBC News. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Europese Literatuurprijs 2018: de shortlist". Expertisecentrum Literair Vertalen (in Dutch). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  26. ^ "The Reading List". RUSA Update. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  27. ^ "Light Perpetual". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  28. ^ "The HWA Crown Awards longlists for 2021". Historia Magazine. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  29. ^ "The Encore Award". The Society of Authors. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  30. ^ "2023 Sidewise Award Winners". Locus. 12 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
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