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Alba Arikha

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Alba Arikha (born 1966) is a French-born writer who lives and works in the United Kingdom.

Early life

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Brought up in Paris, her father was the Franco-Israeli artist Avigdor Arikha. Her mother is the American poet, Anne Atik.[1] Her sister, Noga Arikha, is a historian.[2] Arikha received her BA from Hampshire College, and her MFA from Columbia University.

Career

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Arikha has written six books. Her first two, Museand Walking on Ice, were written under the name Alba Branca. Arikha's memoir Major/Minor[3] was published in 2011 by Quartet Books. Charting her artistic childhood in Paris, coupled with memories of her godfather, Samuel Beckett, the book was shortlisted for the Spear's Awards[4] and selected by The New Yorker among the best books of 2012.[5] The paperback edition was published in 2017. An article about her family and Beckett was published in the TLS in October 2020.[6]

She wrote a narrative poem, ‘Soon,’ published by CB Editions in 2013[7] and turned into an opera, one of two projects Arikha collaborated on as librettist with her husband, composer Tom Smail.[citation needed] It was performed in August 2013, at the Riverside Studios, in London.[7] The second one, 'Blue Electric,' with music by Tom Smail,[8] was based on Major/Minor was performed in August 2018 at the Tête-à-Tête Opera festival at RADA,[9] and was directed by Hugh Hudson. The full production was performed at the Playground Theatre, London, in October 2020, directed by Orpha Phelan.[10] Her novel, Where to find me, was published by Alma Books in 2018.[11] It was selected among the best books of 2018 in the Evening Standard,[12] and long listed for the 2020 Wingate Prize.[13]

Her novel Two Hours was published by Eris Press in 2024. Charting a woman’s voyage through love, loss and eventually freedom in 1980’s New York, Paris, London and Rome, it was described by John Self in the Observer, as ‘concise, rigorous and heartbreaking,’[14] and ‘a literary masterpiece of grace and weight,’[15] by Helen Cullen in the Irish Times.

Arikha is a regular contributor to Radio 4,[16] and was included in Pick of the Week.[17] Since 2012, she has been teaching creative writing for various institutions such as the Royal Academy of Art[18] and the Chocolate Factory[19] and has been involved with Guardian masterclasses,[20] since 2015, where she teaches classes on short fiction. In Spring 2017 she was Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University,[21] where she taught a masterclass in non-fiction. Her poem about the lockdown, ‘What I know,’ was published in Tortoise Media in 2020.[22]

Alba is also a pianist and songwriter, and has performed in Paris and London. She has recorded two CDs of songs, Si j’ai aimé and Dans les rues de Paris. She has also written a song based on the main character of her novel, Where to find me.

In 2019, she was a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, where she taught creative writing.[23]

Personal life

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Arikha has two children from her previous marriage. She now married to the composer Tom Smail, and they both live in London.[24]

Bibliography

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Fiction:

  • Muse (New ed.). London: Pan Books. 1999-03-12. ISBN 9780330352666.
  • Walking on Ice. London: Pan Books. 2000-01-07. ISBN 9780330352673.
  • Where to find me (2018)
  • Two Hours. Eris. 2024.ISBN 978-1912475537

Non-Fiction:

  • Major/Minor (2011)
  • Soon (2013)

Operas:

  • Soon (2013)
  • Blue Electric (2018)

Music:

  • Si j’ai aimé (2007)
  • Dans les rues de Paris (2011)
  • Where to find me (2018)

References

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  1. ^ Savas, Aysegul (2018-01-22). "The Poet Upstairs". The Paris Review. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  2. ^ "Noga Arikha - official web site - welcome". www.nogaarikha.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  3. ^ "Quartet Books - Major/Minor".
  4. ^ "Spear's Book Awards 2014". Spear's Magazine. 2014-09-28. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  5. ^ "Best Books of 2012". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  6. ^ "Tracing personal relations with Samuel Beckett | The TLS". TLS. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  7. ^ a b "CB editions - publisher of new writing - Arikha". www.cbeditions.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  8. ^ Hugill, Planet. "Musical memoir: Tom Smail's Blue Electric at Tête à Tête". Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  9. ^ "Blue Electric | Tête à Tête - The Future of Opera". Tête à Tête - The Future of Opera. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  10. ^ "Blue Electric – An Opera – theplaygroundtheatre". theplaygroundtheatre.london. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  11. ^ "Where to Find Me - Alma Books". Alma Books. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  12. ^ "Evening Standard Best Books of 2018".
  13. ^ "The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation". www.wingatefoundation.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  14. ^ Self, John (2024-03-18). "Two Hours by Alba Arikha review – an impassioned tale of how life pummels and reshapes us". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  15. ^ "Two Hours by Alba Arikha: A literary masterpiece". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  16. ^ "Alba Arikha, Reading Europe - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  17. ^ "Cross-Channel Journal, Series 1, The Channel - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  18. ^ "The Portrait: a short story inspired by Hockney | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  19. ^ "Writing Courses – Haringey Literature Live". haringeyliteraturelive.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  20. ^ "Guardian Masterclasses". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  21. ^ "Faculty & Staff". Columbia - School of the Arts. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  22. ^ peterhoskin (2020-04-17). "Letters from lockdown Alba Arikha transcript". Tortoise. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  23. ^ "Creative writing". www.herts.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  24. ^ "Author, Pianist, Singer & Songwriter | Alba Arikha". www.albaarikha.com. Retrieved 2018-10-01.[permanent dead link‍]
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