1. James Crace was born on 1 March 1946 and is an English novelist, playwright and short story writer.
13 Facts About Jim Crace
1. 2.
Jim Crace was born in 1946 at the neo-classical Hertfordshire country house of Brocket Hall, while it served as a maternity hospital.
3.
An edition of Roget's Thesaurus that his father gave him as a Christmas present when he was 11 Jim Crace retained as a "constant companion, my best possession", throughout his life.
4.
Jim Crace ended up at the Birmingham College of Commerce.
5.
Jim Crace joined Voluntary Service Overseas, and was based in Sudan.
6.
Between 1976 and 1987, Jim Crace worked as a freelance journalist, including for The Sunday Times and the Radio Times, before quitting due an experience at The Sunday Times, where his report on the Broadwater Farm riot did not receive the acclaim of his editor, owing to his unwillingness to describe in sufficient detail the hell-like features of this estate.
7.
Jim Crace has expressed his admiration for Gunter Grass, Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, adding "Less so Kundera, more so the Latin American magical realists".
8.
Jim Crace has been a socialist throughout his life, though this is not evident from his published fiction.
9.
Jim Crace stated that his "17-year-old self would read my bourgeois fiction, full of metaphors and rhythmic prose, with a sinking heart".
10.
Jim Crace admits to forgetting details from his own books.
11.
Jim Crace planned to write a book called Archipelago and spoke of it in advance.
12.
Jim Crace set himself against Hilary Mantel's points on the writing of historical novels.
13.
Jim Crace was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999.