Claire Armitstead

Claire Armitstead FRSL is a British journalist and author. She is Associate Editor (Culture) at The Guardian, where she has worked since 1992.[1] She is also a cultural commentator on literature and the arts, and makes appearances on radio and television, as well as leading workshops and chairing literary events in the UK and at international festivals.[2] She has judged literary competitions including the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the PEN Pinter Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Claire Armitstead

FRSL
Armitstead in 2021
Born
London, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Journalist and author

Biography

Armitstead was born in south London, England, and spent her early childhood in Northern Nigeria, attending primary school in Kaduna.[3][4]

She worked as a trainee reporter in South Wales, before joining the Hampstead & Highgate Express as a theatre critic and sub-editor, moving from there to the Financial Times and then in 1992 to The Guardian, where she has been Arts Editor, Literary Editor (in which position she was described as "Respected blue-stocking and keen cyclist who keeps the wheels turning on ever more ambitious books pages"),[5] Head of Books and, most recently, Associate Editor (Culture).[3]

Armitstead's essays have been published in New Performance (Macmillan, 1994) and Women: A Cultural Review (Oxford University Press, 1996). She was editor of The Bedside Guardian 2016, which Ian Sansom described as "a work I confidently predict will stand the test of time."[6] Armitsttead also edited Tales of Two Londons: Stories From a Fractured City (O/R Books, 2018), an anthology that (as explained in the Introduction) "sets out to mirror London's diversity by ensuring that more than a third of the voices are of those not born in the UK",[7] and about which The London Magazine reviewer wrote: "I cannot imagine anyone who has ever lived or worked in the capital not finding a point of connection or a memory resurfaced."[8]

Armitstead has been a judge for literary competitions as varied as the 2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books,[9] the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature,[10] the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature,[11] the 2020 PEN Pinter Prize[12] and the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize.[13] She has been a trustee of English PEN since 2013.[14]

Armitstead presents The Guardian's weekly books podcast.[15][16] The podcast includes interviews with authors.[17][18] The show is cohosted by Richard Lea and Sian Cain.[19] The show discusses poetry, books, and other works of literature.[20]

In 2022, Armitstead was elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.[21][22]

Bibliography
  • (Editor) The Bedside Guardian 2016, Faber and Faber, 2016, ISBN 9781783561247.
  • (Editor) Tales of Two Londons: Stories From a Fractured City, O/R Books, 2018, ISBN 978-1-682191-36-1. Arcadia Books, 2019, ISBN 9781911350606.

References
  1. "Claire Armitstead". Arts Council. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  2. "Speakers". The Literary Conference. The Literary Consultancy. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  3. "Claire Armitstead". O/R Books. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. Armitstead, Claire (19 August 2015). "Half of a Yellow Sun shocked me into a sense of my own expatriate identity". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. Lo Dico, Joy (9 October 2006). "Inside Story: Stars of the ultimate book group". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  6. Sansom, Ian (14 December 2016). "The Bedside Guardian 2016 – review". The Guardian.
  7. "Tales of Two Londons". O/R Books.
  8. Keir, Alexis. "Review | Tales of Two Londons: Stories From A Fractured City". The London Magazine. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  9. "2015 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books: Judging panel 2015". The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  10. "Announcing the 2016 OCM Bocas Prize Longlist". Bocas Lit Fest. 6 March 2016. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  11. "Longlist announced for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018". Daily FT. 12 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  12. "Linton Kwesi Johnson awarded PEN Pinter Prize 2020". English PEN. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  13. "Meet the Jury: Claire Armitstead". Scotiabank Giller Prize. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  14. "Library of exile: no frontiers – celebrating writing in translation". English PEN. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  15. Anasuya, Shreya Ila (17 May 2015). "Seven literary podcasts for your listening pleasure". Scroll.in. Scroll Media Incorporation. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  16. Sutton, Megan (15 October 2019). "8 of the Best Podcasts for Book Lovers". Good Housekeeping. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  17. Linforth, Christopher (22 July 2016). "Audio Only: On the Rise of the Literary Podcast". The Millions. PWxyz LLC. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  18. Pareek, Harsh (13 January 2019). "Podcast Roundup: Our Picks for the Week, From Desert Island Discs to Stuff You Missed in History Class-Entertainment News". Firstpost. Network18 Group. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  19. "The 14 Best Podcasts Every Reader and Writer Needs in Their Life". Midwestness Publishing. 3 January 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  20. Jain, Devanshi (28 September 2018). Mitra, Oishani (ed.). "7 Literary Podcasts for Book Lovers". The Curious Reader. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  21. "RSL | Claire Armitstead". The Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  22. Wild, Stephi (12 July 2022). "Fellows and Honorary Fellows For 2022". Broadway World. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
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