Ian McEwan was born in Aldershot,
England, in 1948. The son of an army officer, his childhood was dominated by
travel, with postings to Singapore, Tripoli, and Germany. From the age of 11, he attended
Woolverstone Hall, a boarding school in Suffolk, which had previously educated
Kipling, Orwell, Saki, and William Boyd. He read English at Sussex University,
graduating in 1970. After this, he famously the first student to attend the
Creative Writing course at the University of East Anglia, where he was taught
by Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson. 1975 saw the publication of his first
collection of short stories – “First
Love, Last Rites”, which won the Somerset Maugham Award. This was followed
by his second collection of stories in 1978, “In Between
the Sheets”. The dark nature of these stories earned him the nickname of
‘Ian Macabre’. 1978 also saw the publication of his first novel, “The Cement
Garden”. This was followed in 1981 by “The
Comfort of Strangers”, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. “The Child
in Time” was published in 1987, and won the Whitbread Novel Award. “The
Innocent” came out in 1990, followed by “Black Dogs”
in 1992. The novel that many critics regard as his best – “Enduring
Love” – was published in 1997.
It should have won The Booker Prize, but Ian McEwan did win the award
the following year, for the much weaker “Amsterdam”
(1998). 2001 saw a return to form with the publication of “Atonement”, which
won the WH Smith Literary Award. Ian McEwan’s latest novel, “Saturday”,
was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize. 2007 saw the release of the excellent novella “On Chesil Beach”.
In addition to his prose, Ian McEwan has also written a number of scripts,
starting with three plays for television that were published as “The
Imitation Game” in 1981. Some of his other scripts have been “The
Ploughman’s Lunch” (1985), “Sour Sweet” (1988), “The Innocent” (1993), and
“The Good Son” (1993). He also wrote the children’s book “The
Daydreamer” (1994). In 2000, Ian McEwan was awarded a CBE. He lives in
London.
Mother tongue – Ian
McEwan writes in depth about his mother, childhood, mentions that his best
friend at school was Mark Wing-Davey (the original Zaphod Beeblebrox?). He also
writes about how he was so quiet at school
Only
love and then oblivion: Love was all they had to set against their murderers
– Ian McEwan’s response to 9/11
Faith
and Doubt at Ground Zero – Helen Whitney interviews Ian McEwan in response
to his 9/11 article above, where Ian discusses his atheism
How could
we have forgotten that this was always going to happen? – Ian McEwan’s
reaction to the London bombings of July 2005
Ian
McEwan’s letter to Tony Blair – pdf file - this protest against the
Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill shows that Ian McEwan does disagree with
Tony Blair about some things
The
master – Ian McEwan’s tribute to Saul Bellow
Let’s talk
about climate change – Ian McEwan writes about the subject that has been
engrossing him recently
Zadie Smith talks with Ian McEwan – you
don’t get to read the whole interview unless you subscribe to “The Believer”,
but Zadie’s
introduction is so delightfully witty, that you don’t mind. She recounts how she first got to meet
Ian McEwan
I
taught Ian McEwan brain surgery, but I wouldn’t swap jobs – Neil Kitchen writes
about how he helped Ian McEwan in the writing of “Saturday”
The
borrowers: ‘why McEwan is no plagiarist’ – Ian McEwan was accused of
plagiarising from wartime diaries in the writing of “Atonement”
Talking
with Ian McEwan – Ian tells John Freeman about the brainstorming he did for
“Saturday”
McEwan
drives into more trouble over new novel – some aspects of “Saturday”
weren’t researched so well
Writer Ian McEwan
gets a rare, official US apology for border delay – John Marshall details
the reasons as to why Ian McEwan was temporarily delayed entry to the country
by US customs officials. Nothing to do with terrorism, they just thought that
he was earning too much money on his speaking tour
Absent
parents, an angry ex, and a curious obsession with dead bodies – Ian McEwan
talks to Lucy Cavendish about family. He reveals that he’s interested in
climate change, and this may be the topic of his next novel
First loves, last
writes – Ian McEwan talks to The Scotsman’s Catherine Deveney, and reveals
that his father was proud that his son had got into university
Birnbaum
v. McEwan – Robert Birnbaum’s lengthy interview with Ian reveals that he
was published in Holland before publishers in the UK took him up
Jasper
Gerard meets Ian McEwan – opens with an amusing scene concerning Tony
Blair, which makes Ian McEwan’s support for him all the more perplexing
Ian
McEwan, Reinventing himself still – Ian McEwan talks about polyphony and a
great deal more in this interview with Dave Weich
We’re
witnessing a civil war in Islam – Ian McEwan talks to Spiegel after the
London bombings
Book
World Live – Ian McEwan participates in an online question and answer
session, which mentions his long friendship with the poet Craig Raine
McEwan
on death – brief article on a speech that Ian McEwan gave in 2002
Getting
rid of the ghosts – in this interview with David Wiegand, Ian McEwan
relates how having his wife as first reader helps in the writing process
The
writer as cold-eyed sociopath – Terence Blacker’s excellent account of the
messy break-up of Ian McEwan’s first marriage
The
Story of his Life – Robert McCrum’s excellent overview on the career of Ian
McEwan
Life
was clearly too interesting in the war – Ian McEwan talks to John
Sutherland in 2002 about “Atonement” and 9/11
Erudition – Ian
McEwan talks some about “Atonement” and more about his time at UEA
At
home with his worries – Kate Kellaway interviews Ian McEwan in 2001
The Salon
Interview – Ian McEwan talks to Dwight Garner after the publication of
“Enduring Love”, when the Tony Blair government was still young and rosy-eyed
An interview with Ian
McEwan – again, this dates back to the publication of “Enduring Love”
BBC
Four Audio interviews – has an interview with Ian from 2000
Ian McEwan – Pornographer or Prophet? –
Christina Byrnes’ essay in “Contemporary Review”, June 1995
Between
the Lines – Week one of John Mullan’s dissection of “Atonement”
Looking
forward to the past – John Mullan looks at prolepsis in “Atonement”
Turning up
the heat – John Mullan does that most British thing: he talks about the
weather in “Atonement”
Beyond
Fiction – John Mullan looks at metanarrative in “Atonement”
Shadows on the
mind: Urban alienation and the mental landscape of the children in Ian McEwan’s
“The Cement Garden” – read Nick Ambler’s essay
Briony’s
stand against oblivion : Ian McEwan’s “Atonement” – Brian Finney’s essay on
the novel
Narration
and Unease in Ian McEwan’s later fiction – Jago Morrison’s essay in
“Studies in Contemporary Fiction”, March 2001
Seaboyer, Judith "Sadism Demands A Story: Ian
McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers"
MFS Modern Fiction Studies - Volume 45, Number 4, Winter 1999, pp. 957-986
Harold, James "Narrative Engagement with Atonement
and The Blind Assassin"
Philosophy and Literature - Volume 29, Number 1, April 2005, pp. 130-145
Ryan, Kiernan. "Sex, Violence and Complicity: Martin
Amis and Ian McEwan." An
Introduction to Contemporary Fiction: International Writing in English since
1970. Ed. Rod Mengham. Cambridge, UK: Polity P, 1999.203-218.
