Kate Atkinson

Kevin P. Smith (Sheffield Hallam University); Revised By: M. Carmen Gomez-Galisteo (Universidad a Distancia)

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

Dates

Born 1951
Activity 1995-ongoing

Places

Born in England
Active in England; Scotland

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Playwright / Dramatist
Story-writer

Resources

Atkinson's Works

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Kate Atkinson arrived upon the literary scene when her debut novel

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

unexpectedly won the 1995 Whitbread book of the year prize (renamed Costa Award in 2006), beating the favourites, Salman Rushdie’s

The Moor’s Last Sigh

and Roy Jenkins’

Gladstone

Behind the Scenes at the Museum, one of the dissenting judges of the Whitbread prize commented, is postmodern, “although I don’t know if Kate Atkinson knows it”. In fact, Atkinson had previously written a PhD thesis at the University of Dundee on “The post-modern American short story in its historical context”. Although she failed her viva, it is safe to assume that she knows what postmodernism is. The publicity surrounding her Whitbread Prize success brought out the worst in both the literary

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3673 words

Citation: Smith, Kevin P., M. Carmen Gomez-Galisteo. "Kate Atkinson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002; last revised 10 April 2025. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5191, accessed 15 April 2025.]

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