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Vesna Goldsworthy

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Goldsworthy in 2012

Vesna Goldsworthy FRSL (née Bjelogrlic, Serbian: Bjelogrlić, pronounced: Byelogerlitch), is a Serbian writer and poet.[1][2] She is from Belgrade and obtained her BA in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from the University of Belgrade in 1985. She has lived in England since 1986. Goldsworthy became a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Exeter in 2017.[3] She previously worked at Kingston University where she was Director of the Centre for Suburban Studies.[4] Goldsworthy is a Professor Emeritus of the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.[5]

Her books include Inventing Ruritania (1998), the memoir Chernobyl Strawberries (2005),[6] and a collection of poems The Angel of Salonika (2011).[7] Her first novel, Gorsky, which updated the story of The Great Gatsby, was published in 2015.[8] Her second novel, Monsieur Ka, which is a development of the story of Anna Karenina, was published in 2018.[9] Goldsworthy published her third novel Iron Curtain: a love story in 2022.[10]

Biography

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Serbia

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Goldsworthy wrote poetry since her youth. The poems were published in literary magazines and anthologies throughout the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties winning a number of prizes in the former Yugoslavia.[11] In 1984 she read a sonnet at a soccer stadium in front of 30,000 people.[1]: 99–106, 47–48  [12] During the summer of 1984 she attended the Karl Marx Institute of the University of Sofia in order to research Byzantine prayers for her college dissertation and to study Bulgarian.[1]: 136–138 

England

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In 1986 Goldsworthy moved to England. After working for two publishing houses, she spent ten years broadcasting and producing for the BBC World Service in her native Serbian, and in English on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4.[1]: 167–182  [13] She received an M.A. in Modern English Literature in 1992 and a Ph.D. in 1996, both from the University of London.[13] Goldsworthy then became a faculy member at the University of East Anglia where she continues as Professor Emeritus in the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing.[14] In 2009 Goldsworthy joined the International Dublin Literary Award panel of judges.[15] In 2017 she joined the faculty of the University of Exeter as a Professor of Creative Writing.[13] Goldsworthy is a member of the Folio-Academy.[16]

Her books have been translated into over twenty languages.[17] Goldsworthy read her memoir Chernobyl Strawberries on the BBC. It was listed in the Radio Choice list of The Guardian.[18] J. M. Coetzee commenting on the Angel of Salonika, wrote that her writing was "European in sensibility, elegiac in tone, these poems mark the arrival of a welcome new voice in English poetry."[19]Gorsky, her first novel, remained on the London Times Best Seller list for five months.[20][21]Gorsky was also listed as a NY Times Editors Choice.[22] The novel Iron Curtain was listed among the Financial Times best summer books of 2022, the New Yorker: Best books We've Read This Year (2023), and The Christian Science Monitor Ten Best Books of February 2023.[23][24][25]

Awards and honors

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Bibliography

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  • Inventing Ruritania: The Imperialism of the Imagination, Yale University Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0300073126
  • Chernobyl Strawberries, Atlantic Books, 2005, ISBN 978-1843544142
  • Hussein, Aamer (2006). Goldsworthy, Vesna (ed.). Writing Worlds 1, The Norwich Exchanges. Norwich Norfolk[England]: Pen & Ink Press. ISBN 978-1902913261.
  • The Angel of Salonika, Salt Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1844718788
  • Gorsky, The Overlook Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1468312232
  • Monsieur Ka, Chatto and Windus, 2018, ISBN 978-1784741181
  • Iron curtain: a love story, Chatto and Windus, 2022, ISBN 978-1473596139

BBC appearances

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Goldsworthy formerly worked for the BBC Serbian Service as a journalist. In 2010, she presented a BBC Radio 4 programme on finding one's voice in a foreign land. In 2017 she was a guest on BBC Radio 3's Private Passions.[29]

Other audio selections

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Goldsworthy, Vesna (2015). Chernobyl Strawberries. London, UK: Wilmington Square Books. ISBN 9781908524478.
  2. ^ "Vesna Goldsvorti" (Press release). Belgrade: Geopoetika. 5 March 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Professor Vesna Goldsworthy". University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Pioneering research centre opens net curtains on suburban studies". Kingston University. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. ^ Goldsworthy, Vesna. "University of East Anglia". University of East Anglia. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  6. ^ Lacey. "Review: Chernobyl Strawberries by Vesna Goldsworthy | Books". The Guardian. 8 April 2005. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  7. ^ Rees, J. "A writer's life: Vesna Goldsworthy". Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  8. ^ Goldsworthy, Vesna (22 March 2016). "Vesna Goldsworthy: 'I started from Gatsby as a Greek dramatist starts from Antigone'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  9. ^ Feigel, Lara (6 April 2018). "Monsieur Ka by Vesna Goldsworthy review – a deft continuation of Anna Karenina". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  10. ^ Goldsworthy, Vesna (2022). Iron Curtain: a love story. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-1473596139.
  11. ^ "Vesna Goldsvorty". Prosefest. Belgrade: Prosefest. 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  12. ^ Mallon, Thomas (6 March 2023). "Writers Bloc". New Yorker. New York: Condè Nast. ProQuest 2783905123. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  13. ^ a b c University of Exeter. "Vesna Goldsworthy". Staff Profile. University of Exeter. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  14. ^ University of East Anglia (2018). "Vesna Goldsworthy". Staff Profile. University of East Anglia. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Author Nominated For Novel". Statesman Journal. Salem, Or.: Gannett Media Corp: PT 7. 24 December 2007. ISSN 0739-5507. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  16. ^ "The Folio Academy". Rathbones Folio Prize. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  17. ^ Goldsworthy, Vesna (8 February 2019). Wachtel, Eleanor (ed.). "Vesna Goldsworthy on re-imagining The Great Gatsby and Anna Karenina". Canadian Broadcsting Company. Retrieved 17 September 2023. Quote From Eleanor Wachtel
  18. ^ "Radio Choice". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  19. ^ "The Angel of Salonika" (Press release). London: Salt Publishing. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  20. ^ "best sellers". The London Times. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  21. ^ "best sellers". The London Times. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  22. ^ "Editors' Choice". NY Times Book Review (December 27, 2015): BR22. 27 December 2015. ProQuest 1754871995. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  23. ^ Studemann, Frederick (25 June 2022). "Best Summer Books of 2022; Critics' Picks". Financial Times (June 25, 2022). Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  24. ^ "Iron Curtain". New Yorker. 2023 (March 8, 2023). 8 March 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  25. ^ "The Ten Best Books of February". The Christian Science Monitor (February 27, 2023). 27 February 2023. ProQuest 2780191324. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  26. ^ "#CrashawPrize The shortlist in profile: Vesna Goldsworthy « blog.saltpublishing.com". Archived from the original on 6 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  27. ^ "Vesna Goldsworthy". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  28. ^ Karović, Boban (6 June 2022). "NEW IRON CURTAIN FALLING ON THE WORLD!". Kurir. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  29. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - Private Passions, Vesna Goldsworthy". BBC. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
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