Alexander Fiske-Harrison

Alexander Rupert Fiske-Harrison (born 22 July 1976) is an English author, journalist, conservationist and bullfighter.[1]

Alexander Fiske-Harrison
Alexander Fiske-Harrison on Professor Kevin Dutton's podcast in 2021
Born (1976-07-22) 22 July 1976
London
Occupation(s)Author, Journalist, Conservationist & Bullfighter
Websitewww.alexanderfiskeharrison.com

His writing is known for his immersion in his subject matter. He trained and worked for some years as a Method actor.[2] For his first book Into The Arena: The World Of The Spanish Bullfight he became a bullfighter. For his second, The Bulls Of Pamplona, he became a bull-runner.[3]

In 2011 he was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year for Into The Arena, his fiction "Les Invincibles" was a finalist in Le Prix Hemingway International in France in 2016, and his work "The Feldkirch Crossing", was shortlisted for the Mogford Prize of the Financial Times Weekend Oxford Literary Festival in 2021.[4]

Background and personal life

He is the youngest son of Clive Fiske Harrison.[5][6] His brother Jules William Fiske Harrison was, according to The Times, a "skilled and fearless skier" who died in a skiing accident in Zermatt, Switzerland in 1988.[7]

He was educated at Eton and the University of Oxford, followed by The London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of London. He studied biological sciences, and then philosophy, politics and economics (PPE), before doing postgraduate work in the foundations of physics on the relationship between quantum theory and classical logic and then consciousness studies incorporating work in both foundations of psychology and animal behaviour.[8]

He trained at the acting school, the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York City, when Marlon Brando was its chairman.[9] (He was consultant on the Academy Award-nominated Universal Pictures' documentary on Brando, Listen To Me Marlon).[10]

Fiske-Harrison is engaged to be married to Klarina Pichler,[11] a professional polo player from Austria[12] and captain of Las Sacras Romanas - 'The Holy Romans' - an international polo team.[13] She is a descendant of Baron Leonhard Pichler von Weitenegg of the old Swabian nobility[14] Lord of Hornstein[15] and Seibersdorf[16] and Councillor of the Court Chamber to Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.[17]

Journalism

Fiske-Harrison has written for newspapers and magazines including The Times,[18] Financial Times,[19] The Daily Telegraph,[20] The Times Literary Supplement,[21] GQ,[22] and The Spectator,[23] magazines and has been himself featured in the society pages of the Telegraph,[24] Evening Standard[25] and Condé Nast's Tatler.[26]

He has been interviewed and provided commentary on broadcast media outlets including the BBC,[27] CNN,[28] Al-Jazeera,[29] Discovery Channel,[30] US National Public Radio.[31] and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation National Radio.[32]

He has also written in Spanish for ABC[33] and El Norte de Castilla[34] and has been himself featured in the society pages of ABC[35] and¡Hola! magazine (Spanish parent of Hello! magazine.)[36]

Conservation
Fiske-Harrison trekking in the Făgăraș Mountains in Transylvania in 2017

Fiske-Harrison has written on wolves[37] and dogs, cattle and horses,[38] and apes.[39] He often focuses on human perception of, and interaction with, animals.[40]

Spain

Bullfighting
Fiske-Harrison toreando, 'bullfighting', in Palma del Río, Córdoba province, Spain

An essay on bullfighting for Prospect magazine[41] in September 2008 led Fiske-Harrison to move to Spain to further research the topic. He lived, trained and fought alongside matadors including Juan José Padilla, Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez – whose father Paquirri was killed in the ring, and grandfather Antonio Ordóñez the subject of Hemingway's The Dangerous Summer – and Eduardo Dávila Miura of the Miura bull family. He wrote about his experiences on his blog The Last Arena: In Search of the Spanish Bullfight.[42]

Into The Arena: The World Of The Spanish Bullfight

In 2011 Profile Books published his Into The Arena: The World of the Spanish Bullfight. The Sunday Times said that "it provides an engrossing introduction to Spain's 'great feast of art and danger'".[43]

In answer to Animal Welfare and Animal Rights concerns, the Financial Times said, "it's to Fiske-Harrison's credit that he never quite gets over his moral qualms about bullfighting."

Bull-running
Fiske-Harrison, circled, running among the bulls of Torrestrella on calle Estafeta in Pamplona

As part of his research in 2009, Fiske-Harrison began running with the bulls in Pamplona,[44][45] and became a part of the 'Runners Team of the World',[46] and continued to do it across the rest of Spain, including the encierros, 'bull-runs', of the Navarran towns of Tafalla and Falces, where the run is down a mountain path beside a sheer drop called "El Pilón"[47]- in the municipality of San Sebastián de los Reyes and the ancient castle of Cuéllar in Old Castile,[48][49] which hosts the oldest encierro in Spain,[50] and where he was awarded a prize for writing about the encierros in 2013.[51]

The Bulls Of Pamplona

In Spring 2014 Fiske-Harrison co-authored and edited the book The Bulls Of Pamplona, with a foreword from the Mayor of Pamplona and contributions from aficionados of the festival of San Fermín, including John Hemingway, grandson of Ernest Hemingway, Beatrice Welles, daughter of Orson Welles, along with chapters of advice from the most experienced American and Spanish bull-runners.

Drama

Fiske-Harrison's acting debut was as Govianus in The Second Maiden's Tragedy at the Hackney Empire theatre in London.[52] He has also acted on the German stage[53] and in independent film in the UK and Italy.[54] He returned to acting in 2023 in The Honourable Way Out, a Cold War spy thriller produced by the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS).[55]

The Pendulum
Fiske-Harrison and Gareth Kennerly on stage in the West End of London in 2008

The play is a two-act four-hander set in 1900 Vienna. Its first production was in the summer of 2008 at the Jermyn Street Theatre, in London's West End.[56]

Michael Billington in The Guardian gave it three stars and said, "the author himself plays the disintegrating hero with the right poker-backed irascibility... it is refreshing to find a new play that gets away from bedsit angst, one comes away with the sensation of having seen an accomplished historical play."[57] The Sunday Times described it as "something earnest, nicely acted – if a little contained."[58]

References
  1. 'Biography', Alexander Fiske-Harrison website
  2. Hodgkinson, Thomas. 'A new literary movement: You have method actors, so why not method authors?', The Independent. 1 February 2016
  3. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'A Good Run' The Spectator, 14 July 2012
  4. "Mogford Prize 2021 Longlist". 5 March 2021.
  5. Winter, Laura. "Clive Fiske Harrison" Archived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Debrett's People of Today 2012
  6. Fiske Harrison of Layer de la Haye Burke's Peerage
  7. Coren, Giles. 'How do I hate skiing?', The Times 21 March 2009
  8. 'Biography',
  9. Profile Books Author page Alexander Fiske-Harrison Archived 12 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Alexander Fiske-Harrison at IMDb
  11. People & Style.'At the Prince's Gate of La Maestranza of Seville: Well known faces ABC 5 April 2019
  12. 'Klarina Pichler personal website'
  13. Las Sacras Romanas Polo Team website
  14. Marktgemeinde Of Hornstein 'Landlords of Hornstein'
  15. Burgen/Austria 'Hornstein (Bgld)'
  16. "Atlas-burgenland.at - Herrschaft Hornstein".
  17. 'Püchler von Weitenegg, Freiherr Freiherr Leonhard' TNG/Adler
  18. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'Who to back in the Grand National? Not the tipsters' The Times. 12 April 2012
  19. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. 'Talking with apes', Financial Times. 24 November 2001
  20. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'To the Spanish bullfighting is much more than just a sport' Daily Telegraph. 25 November 2011
  21. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. 'Can computers converse?', The Times Literary Supplement. 9 June 2000
  22. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'The Last Matador', GQ. September 2012
  23. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'Warrior: The Story of the real warhorse', The Spectator, 21 January 2012
  24. Methven, Charlie. 'Jonathan Aitken fille casts caution to the wind with Fiske', Mandrake, The Telegraph. 22 February 2002
  25. Londoner's Diary 'Fights that started on the playing fields of Eton are breaking out all over London...', Evening Standard. 21 March 2013
  26. Compston, Harriet. 'Hottie Ahoy!', Tatler. July 2008
  27. Lewis, Alun 'testbeds: Artificial Intelligence' Archived 7 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Radio 4, 17 February 2000
  28. 'The future of bullfighting in Spain', CNN, 28 July 2010
  29. 'Bullfighting debate with Alexander Fiske-Harrison and Jordi Casamitjana', Al-Jazeera, September 2008
  30. Frayer, Lauren Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine 'World's Scariest Animal Attacks', Mentorn TV. 16 August 2012
  31. Bullfighting in Spain Stays Alive Despite Regional Ban', NPR. 28 September 2011.
  32. Doogue, Geraldine. 'Into the bullfighting arena', ABC National Radio. 4 August 2012
  33. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander '¿Polo en Sevilla: fin del juego?', ABC. 21 October 2018
  34. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'Gracias, Cuéllar, desde Londres' El Norte de Castilla. 3 September 2012
  35. Pina, Marina 'De Eton a Cuéllar, en un solo encierro', ABC. 31 August 2013
  36. Sánchez, Mamen. 'Alexander Fiske-Harrison, the English ‘gentleman’ who one day became an expert on bullfighting' (English translation, ¡Hola!. 13 May 2015
  37. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. 'Four legs good, two legs bad', Prospect. February 2009
  38. Machuga, J. Félix. 'Los caballos siempre quieren darnos lo mejor que tienen' Archived 19 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, ABC. 2 May 2013
  39. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. 'Weekend FT Cover Essay: Talking with apes', Financial Times. 24 November 2001
  40. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. 'If we could talk to the animals...', Frieze. November 2003
  41. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. 'A Noble Death' Archived 1 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Prospect. September 2008
  42. Davis, Clive. 'In the arena' Archived 17 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Spectator. 2 March 2009
  43. Schofield, Brian 'Review: Into The Arena by Alexander Fiske-Harrison', Sunday Times. 29 May 2011
  44. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'A Good Run', The Spectator, 14 July 2012
  45. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander , The Spectator, 26 October 2013
  46. 7del7 Runner Team del Mundo Archived 21 January 2014 at archive.today
  47. 'My article 'See you soon, Cuéllar' in El Norte de Castilla' The Last Arena, 14 September 2014
  48. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'Gracias, Cuéllar, desde Londres', 'El Norte de Castilla', 3 September 2012
  49. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'Y una vez más, gracias, Cuéllar, desde Londres', 'El Norte de Castilla', 2 September 2013
  50. Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'The real, old stuff', Financial Times, 31 May 2013
  51. Ernes 'Galardonados con el trofeo Ehtoro a la divulgación del encierro de Cuéllar' Archived 1 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Burladero.com, 27 June 2013
  52. "London Theatre Database page". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  53. "'Alone Together':Familienkomödie im English Theatre", Die Welt. 23 November 2007
  54. ' IMDb page
  55. IMDb page ['https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26594469/reference/ The Honourable Way Out]
  56. "Alexander Fiske-Harrison". Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  57. Billington, Michael. 'Theatre Review: The Pendulum', The Guardian. 9 June 2008
  58. Wise, Louis. 'Theatre Review: The Pendulum, Jermyn Street, SW1'. Sunday Times 15 June 2008
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