Audrey Magee is an Irish novelist and journalist. Her debut novel, The Undertaking, was nominated for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction in 2014.[1][2][3][4] Her novel The Colony was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.[5]
Audrey Magee | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist and journalist |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | University College Dublin; Dublin City University |
| Website | |
| audreymagee | |
Biography
editBorn in Ireland, Magee studied German and French at University College Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University.[6] For 12 years, she worked as a journalist, writing for publications such as The Times, The Irish Times, The Observer, and The Guardian.[6]
In 2014, Magee published The Undertaking, her debut novel.[4] It was published by Atlantic Books.[7] The novel is set in World War II-era Germany and "tells the story of Peter Faber, a German soldier fighting on the Eastern front, who marries Katharina Spinell, a woman he has never met, in order to escape the horrors of the battlefield for a few days."[7]
She wrote The Undertaking with the goal of trying to understand "what it was like to have been an ordinary German during the Second World War."[3] Magee took a "long time" to write the novel, as she "struggled with the novel's cruelty and indifference."[3] To cope, she took walks and drank tea.[3] A review of the novel in The New York Times said: "To write a story that doesn't allow for much sympathy, that keeps readers at a remove from the central characters, is one of the greatest challenges an author can undertake. That Magee succeeds as well as she does is impressive."[4]
Magee lives in Wicklow with her husband and three daughters.[8]
Her novel The Colony – which "follows two outsiders who travel to a small island off the west coast of Ireland in search of answers"[9] – was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.[10]
References
edit- ^ Dunmore, Helen (1 March 2014). "The Undertaking by Audrey Magee – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ Popescu, Lucy (2 February 2014). "Book review: The Undertaking by Audrey Magee | Reviews | Culture". The Independent. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d "A Q&A with Audrey Magee about The Undertaking". Irishtimes.com. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Thomas, Louisa (14 September 2014). "Love and Fascism — 'The Undertaking,' by Audrey Magee". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ Shaffi, Sarah (26 July 2022). "Booker prize longlist of 13 writers aged 20 to 87 announced". The Guardian.
- ^ a b BookBrowse. "Audrey Magee author biography". BookBrowse.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ a b O'Loughlin, Vanessa (13 February 2014). "The Undertaking: Eleanor Fitzsimons Talks to Audrey Magee". Writing.ie. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "About Audrey Magee - Author of 'The Undertaking'". www.audreymagee.com. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Raghnaill, Eoin Mac (29 July 2022). "Wicklow-based novelist Audrey Magee's book chosen for Booker Prize for Fiction longlist". Independent.ie. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ Bayley, Sian (26 July 2022). "Booker Prize longlist dominated by indies as judges pick youngest and oldest ever nominees". The Bookseller.