Rosalind Belben

Rosalind Loveday Belben (born 1 February 1941) is an English novelist.

Born in Dorset[1] in 1941 and educated in neighbouring Devon, Belben is the daughter of naval commander George Deveraux Belben and Joyce Pamela May Belben.[2] She began her career intending to write for the stage. After two years in theatre, she turned her attention elsewhere.[3] Belben’s debut book, a collection of two stories called Bogies, was published in 1972. It was followed up by Reuben, Little Hero in 1973 and The Limit in 1974, which was reissued in 2023 to critical praise.[4][5]

Her next book, Dreaming of Dead People, was published in 1979 and seeks to “stare at the human body, warts and all” in the same manner as visual artforms.[6] Its narrator, Lavinia, has many similarities to Belben, and the book has been described as “autofiction.”[7] Dreaming of Dead People was republished by And Other Stories in 2025.

Ten years later Belben returned with Is Beauty Good, a set of self-contained chapters musing on the title question. Its varied settings echo Belben’s nomadic lifestyle and she has lived in many, such as rural England and Berlin. Is Beauty Good is due to be republished by And Other Stories in 2026.[8]

Later works include Choosing Spectacles (1995) and Hound Music (2001). The follow-up, Our Horses in Egypt (2007), won the James Tait Black Award.[9] She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[10] Her novel Our Horses in Egypt won the James Tait Black Award in 2007.[9]

Lynne Segal described her as a "somewhat neglected author and elegant stylist", and praised Dreaming of Dead People.[11]

Novels

  • Bogies (1972)
  • Reuben Little Hero (1973)
  • The Limit (1974)
  • Dreaming of Dead People (1979)
  • Is Beauty Good (1989)
  • Choosing Spectacles (1995)
  • Hound Music (2001)
  • Our Horses in Egypt (2007)

References

  1. ^ "The Travails of One Woman and Her Horse" The Daily Telegraph, 25 February 2007
  2. ^ Sefton, Daniel (2007). Debrett's People of Today 2008. Debrett's. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-870520-95-9 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ "Rosalind Belben". And Other Stories. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Author details for Rosalind Belben" Random House website, accessed 29 October 2010
  5. ^ "A dying wife disintegrates before her husband". TLS. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  6. ^ Lit, Intern Electric (19 August 2025). "Rosalind Belben Reflects on the Foreplay of Wordplay". Electric Literature. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  7. ^ Harrison, Melissa (31 July 2025). "Dreaming of Dead People by Rosalind Belben review – rivals anything by Virginia Woolf". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Is Beauty Good". And Other Stories. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  9. ^ a b "List of James Tait Black Award Winners" Archived 15 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine University of Edinburgh website, accessed 29 October 2010
  10. ^ "Belben, Rosalind". Royal Society of Literature. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  11. ^ Segal, Lynne (2013). Out of Time: The Pleasures and the Perils of Ageing. Verso. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-78168-504-4. Retrieved 8 August 2022.


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