Hilary Spurling

Susan Hilary Spurling CBE FRSL (née Forrest; born 25 December 1940) is a British writer, known for her work as a journalist and biographer.

Early life and education

Born in Stockport, Cheshire,[1] to circuit judge Gilbert Alexander Forrest (1912–1977)[2] and teacher Emily Maureen, daughter of Joseph Armstrong, of Fivemiletown, County Tyrone,[3][4] Spurling was educated at Clifton High School, an independent school in Bristol, South West England, and then at Somerville College, Oxford.[5][6]

Career

Spurling won the Whitbread Prize for the second volume of her biography of Henri Matisse in January 2006.[7]Burying The Bones: Pearl Buck in China was published in March 2010.[8]

Personal life

In 1961, she married playwright John Spurling.[6] The couple have three children (Amy, Nathaniel and Gilbert) and six grandchildren.[9]

Works
  • Ivy When Young: The Early Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1884–1919 (1974)
  • Mervyn Peake: Drawings (1974) editor
  • Invitation to the Dance, A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time (1977)
  • Secrets of a Woman's Heart: The Later Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett 1920–1969 (1984)
  • Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking (1986)
  • Paul Scott: A Life (1990)
  • Paper Spirits. Collage Portraits by Vladimir Sulyagin (1992) introduction
  • Ivy: The Life of I. Compton-Burnett (1995; combines two volumes originally published separately in 1974 and 1984)
  • The Unknown Matisse: Volume 1 – A Life of Henri Matisse 1869–1908 (1998)
  • La Grande Thérèse: The Greatest Swindle of the Century (1999) on Thérèse Humbert
  • The Girl from the Fiction Department: A Portrait of Sonia Orwell (2002)
  • Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909–1954 (2005)
  • Ann Stokes: Artists' Potter (contributor) (2009)
  • Matisse: The Life (abridged version of two earlier works) (2009)
  • Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China (2010)
  • Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time (2017)[10]

Awards

References
  1. World Authors, 1985–1990, ed. Vineta Colby, H. W. Wilson Ltd, 1995, p. 842.
  2. Who was Who: A Cumulated Index 1897–2000, A. & C. Black, 2002, p. 289.
  3. The Solicitors' Journal, vol. 121, 1977, p. 648.
  4. Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, 95th edition, Kelly's Directories Ltd, 1969, p. 764.
  5. Biography of Hilary Spurling, The Guardian
  6. International Who's Who of Writers and Authors, 23rd edition, Europa Publications, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008, p. 685
  7. Ezard, John (25 January 2006). "Secret life of Matisse wins Whitbread prize". Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via The Guardian.
  8. Shuyun, Sun (17 April 2010). "Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling". Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via The Guardian.
  9. Kirkpatrick, Kirk; Vinson, James, eds. (1988). "Spurling, John". Contemporary Dramatists (Fourth ed.). Chicago and London: St. James Press. p. 500. ISBN 0912289627.
  10. Mabb, David. (2023). Return to Hilary Spurling's Dancing to the Music of Time (2017). Anthony Powell Newsletter 90 (spring): 3-16.
  11. "Dazzling tale of Ms Saigon takes top award". The Scotsman. 20 August 2011.
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