Alan Hollinghurst

Bart Eeckhout (University of Antwerp)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 26 May 1954
Activity 1988-ongoing

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Cultural Identities

LGBTQ

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

Hollinghurst's Works

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The author of only four novels so far, Alan Hollinghurst nevertheless ranks as one of Britain's premier writers of fiction. He owes this status to a combination of stylistic qualities and thematic interests as well as to the socio-cultural context within which his work has emerged. Hollinghurst's mastery of style – a mixture of lyricism, wit and pitch-perfect dialogue – is undisputed and many fellow writers have expressed great admiration for it. His thematic interests, by contrast, have been more contested. Although his novels present us with richly developed portraits of the ways in which sexuality, class, race, art and history enter into complex interrelationships, and although they excel at psychological depth and social satire, they do so while focussing almost exclusively on the…

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3484 words

Citation: Eeckhout, Bart. "Alan Hollinghurst". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 November 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2180, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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