Barry Unsworth (born 10 August^[1] 1930) is a British novelist who writes historical fiction. He has published 17 novels, and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger.

Personal life[link]

Unsworth was born in Wingate, a mining village in County Durham, England.

He graduated from the University of Manchester in 1951, and lived in France for a year teaching English. He also traveled extensively in Greece and Turkey during the 1960s, lecturing at the University of Athens and the University of Istanbul. His novels about fin-de-siecle Ottoman Empire, The Rage of the Vulture and Pascali's Island, were inspired by these experiences. His second novel, The Greeks Have a Word For It, was an out-growth of his teaching experience in Athens.

In 1999 he was a visiting professor at the University of Iowa's Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 2004 he taught literature and creative writing classes at Kenyon College in Ohio.

He currently lives in Umbria, Italy, with his second wife, a Finnish national. His novel After Hannibal is a fictionalised description of his efforts at settlement in the Italian countryside.

Writing career[link]

Unsworth's first novel, The Partnership, was published in 1966 when he was 36. "...in my earlier novels, especially the two written in the early ’70s, The Hide and Mooncranker’s Gift, there was a baroque quality in the style, a density. The mood was grim, but the language was more figurative and more high-spirited. There was more delight in it, more self-indulgence, too. Among my earliest influences as a writer were the American novelists of the deep south, especially Eudora Welty, and some of that elated, grotesque comedy stayed with me."

Other novels include Mooncranker's Gift (1973) (winner of the Heinemann Award), Stone Virgin (1985), and Losing Nelson (1999). He counts William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers as his major influences.

Unsworth did not start to write historical fiction until his sixth novel, Pascali's Island. Pascali's Island (1980), the first of his novels to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize, is set on an unnamed Aegean island during the last years of the Ottoman Empire. Reflecting on this shift, Unsworth explained: "Nowadays I go to Britain relatively rarely and for short periods; in effect, I have become an expatriate. The result has been a certain loss of interest in British life and society and a very definite loss of confidence in my ability to register the contemporary scene there – the kind of things people say, the styles of dress, the politics etc.– with sufficient subtlety and accuracy. So I have turned to the past. The great advantage of this, for a writer of my temperament at least, is that one is freed from a great deal of surface clutter. One is enabled to take a remote period and use it as a distant mirror (to borrow Barbara Tuchman’s phrase), and so try to say things about our human condition – then and now – which transcend the particular period and become timeless." Pascali's Island was adapted as a film by James Dearden, starring Charles Dance, Helen Mirren, and Ben Kingsley as the title character.

Morality Play, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995, is a murder mystery set in 14th-century England. It was adapted as a film, The Reckoning, starring Paul Bettany and Willem Dafoe.

"With time I have grown more sparing with the words. I think less of fire-works and flourishes. I try to get warmth and color through precision of language. This is more difficult, I think, which may be why I find writing novels so challenging and exacting."

Sacred Hunger (1992) centers on the Atlantic slave trade that moves from Liverpool to West Africa, Florida and the West Indies. It was joint winner of the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1992, along with Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient.

The story is set in the mid-18th century and centers around the snow Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship employed in the triangular trade, a central trade route in the Atlantic slave trade. The two main characters are cousins Erasmus Kemp, son of a wealthy merchant from Lancashire, and Matthew Paris, a physician and scientist who goes on the voyage. The novel's central theme is greed, with the subject of slavery being a primary medium for exploring the issue (the "sacred hunger" of the title refers to the profit motive). The story line has a very extensive cast of characters, some featuring in only one scene, others continually developed throughout the story, but most described in intricate detail. The narrative interweaves elements of appalling cruelty and horror with extended comedic interludes, and employs frequent period expressions.

Sugar and Rum (1988) was a novel set in contemporary Liverpool about a writer who is trying to write a novel about the Liverpool slave trade, and who is suffering from writer's block; Unsworth wrote this novel to try to get over his own block during the writing of Sacred Hunger.

Awards and honors[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• 2012 Walter Scott Prize, shortlist, The Quality of Mercy^[2]

Novels[link]

• The Partnership (1966)
• The Greeks Have a Word For It (1967)
• The Hide (1970)
• Mooncranker's Gift (1973)
• The Big Day (1976)
• Pascali's Island (1980) (US edition first published as The Idol Hunter)
• The Rage of the Vulture (1982)
• Stone Virgin (1985)
• Sugar and Rum (1988)
• Sacred Hunger (1992)
• Morality Play (1995)
• After Hannibal (1996)
• Losing Nelson (1999)
• The Songs of the Kings (2002)
• The Ruby in her Navel (2006)
• Land of Marvels (2009)
• The Quality of Mercy (2011)

External links[link]

• 2008 interview with LITTORAL: the journal of the Key West Literary Seminar
• Audio recordings from Key West Literary Seminar, 2009: Unsworth reading from Land of Marvels | 'The Economy of Truth' (lecture) | 'Why Bother with the Past?' (lecture)
• [1] Land of Marvels broadcast interview on WFMT Radio
• Barry Unsworth at Contemporary Writers

Notes[link]

1. ^ Some sources say 8 August.
2. ^ "Walter Scott historical fiction shortlist announced". BBC News. 4 April 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-17610307. Retrieved 12 Apr 2012. 

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2007)

Coordinates: 53°33′27″N 2°16′48″W / 53.5574°N 2.2801°W / 53.5574; -2.2801

Unsworth
Castle Lane on the outskirts of Unsworth
Unsworth  Unsworth shown within Greater Manchester
Metropolitan borough	Bury
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Bury North
List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester

Unsworth is a residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It is seven miles (11.2 km) north of the city of Manchester and four miles (6.4 km) south of Bury.

History[link]

This section requires expansion.

The area in its original form of "Underwood" can be traced back to the first century AD^{[citation needed]} After the Norman Conquest in 1066, it became part of the Pilkington estate before finally passing into the hands of the Derby family in the 15th century.

Two local pubs of note are The Lord Clive - named in honour of Clive of India, whose family were reputed to have had ties with the area, and The Dragon (now closed), which alludes to a local legend that the area had been ravished by one of the mythical beasts until as is so often the case - it fell victim to Thomas Unsworth, a brave knight. Another village pub is The Queen Anne on Hollins Lane.

Something of Unsworth's original nature can still be discerned in the area of Unsworth Pole, the area around the First World War memorial at the junction of Sunny Bank Road and Parr Lane. The Pole or "Pow" (as it was known locally in the Lancashire dialect) was named after the pitch pole fixed there by the Earl of Derby which would be greased each year for the village's pot fair. Local men would then try and clamber up it to grab a side of bacon attached to the top; the successful contestant could keep the ham. Parr Lane, nearby, takes its name from Parr Brook which snakes through the area before joining the River Roch at Blackford Bridge.

It and Castle Brook were a source of water for some of the district's industries which provided employment for local people. As well as bleach and dye works in the area, the land was also used to provide clay for brickworks. The first major change to the farmland that still dominated the area until the 20th century came with the construction of the Royal Air Force's logistics base at nearby Pilsworth in World War II, parts of which remained into the early 1980s as recognisable military structures, although then in use by shipping firms and other industries.

This section requires expansion.

Governance[link]

Historically within Lancashire, the village, with the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury.

Geography[link]

Originally a small village, the area's character changed completely in the 1960s, with the rapid urbanisation of the until-then open countryside.

Transformation began in the 1950s and then became faster in the 1960s with the rapid construction of housing in the area and the main road, now known as Sunnybank, connecting the old village of Unsworth to the A56 arterial road between Bury and Manchester.

Education[link]

The area was the site of Bury's first purpose-built comprehensive school in 1971. It remained something of an oddity for much of that decade at a time when the local authority was in Conservative hands, and fiercely resisting central government pressure to end selection. Unsworth Comprehensive, as it was originally known, was later renamed Castlebrook High School.Also this school is now award winning in the education results tables.

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2009)

Douglas John Mulray (born 1 December 1951, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter.

Radio career[link]

Mulray was a former host of the breakfast time slot on Sydney FM radio station 2MMM (Triple M) in the 1980s.

After a break from Triple M, he worked for a brief time in the PM drive time slot on 2SM with Peter Fitzsimmons before moving to Sydney radio station 2WS eventually leaving that station in July 1999. He never regained the ratings he enjoyed at his former station Triple M.

Like many in radio, he began his career at a small country station. His first gig on radio was for 2AD in Armidale. In the late 1970s, Doug landed his first permanent Sydney radio gig with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's alternative rock station 2JJ (later Triple J), where he built up a sizeable following and perfected the format that led to him being poached by the newly established Triple M in 1982. Mulray became the first in a long line of Double Jay / Triple J presenters to gain popularity with the Jays before making the lucrative move to commercial radio, being followed by Stewart Cranney, Club Veg (Mal Lees & Vic Davies), Jonathon Coleman and more recently Merrick & Rosso.

Mulray often referred to himself as Uncle Doug, Doctor Dougie, or the Reverend Doctor Doug and typically signed off with the punning catchphrase "Cop you later".

One of the distinctive features of his Triple J / Triple M shows was its cast of fictional characters and comedy skits. One of his best known was Jack Africa, a permanently paranoid chap who was constantly convinced that the chooks (Australian slang for chickens) were out to get him. Also featured were the Prime Mincer, a parody of Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke (which originated on Triple J as a parody of former PM Malcolm Fraser, voiced by Ken Stirling)), and Gloria, a parody of Sydney AM radio talkback host Alan Jones. Others included Hymie Fymie, who made an art form of using the phrase "son of a bitch", and Madam Zenda, whose cosmic predictions of the future were accompanied by the punning entreaty "Cross my palm with saliva". (Jack Africa, Gloria and Hymie Fymie were voiced by Dave Gibson.)

During his career behind the microphone, Doug Mulray's shared the microphone with Andrew Denton and many others including "Miss Lizzie", his real-life girlfriend (and later wife) Liz Muir (sister of then station owner Rod Muir), part-time "barrel girl" Fifi D'Armour, who he called the "exotic lettuce leaf dancer and radio producer extraordinaire".

Doug had his share of infamous moments outside the broadcast studio. He released a record called "You Are Soul" which reached number 34 on the ARIA singles chart in 1986 but was banned from the air. The B side was the equally notorious "Smoke Two Joints" (described by Mulray as 'The Butcher's Song').

Television career[link]

Outside of radio, Doug Mulray has also featured on Australian TV shows such as Beauty and the Beast, and hosted the infamous Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos where the show's only episode was pulled from broadcast by furious Nine Network boss Kerry Packer; Mulray was fired and banned for life from the Nine Network as a result, although he would later return to Nine to be a judge on the 2005 series StarStruck.On Full Frontal, this was parodied with a skit of Mulray hosting a lottery draw, making sexual remarks as the balls drop.

He was also the host of the eponymously-titled program Mulray, which ran briefly in the early 1990s on the Seven Network. He also hosted Beauty and the Beast on Network Ten for a brief stint in 2002. In the early '90s Doug was part of the Channel Seven Australian Touring Car Championship commentary team headed up by Mike Raymond until Seven lost the rights in 1997.

In August, 2008 Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos was re-aired on the Nine Network. Mulray reportedly refused requests from Nine management to reappear as the host. One commentator wrote that "it may be that Mulray, a very smart man, knew he would have been open to a few cruel comparisons between the relatively youthful Mulray of 1992 and the solitary Mulray of 2008. The years have not been particularly kind."^[1]

Doug has twins (with his wife Liz) named Tom and Rosie.

Notes[link]

Discography[link]

Albums

• 1982 - What a Rude Album
• 1984 - Too Rude (aka 2 Rude)
• 1993 - Nice Legs, Shame About the Fez

Singles

• 1982 - I'm a Punk / Doug's Dub [as The Rude Band]
• 1986 - You Are Soul / Smoke Two Joints
• 1993 - Werewolf

Peter Meakin is an Australian journalist and the head of news and current affairs at the Seven Network.

He worked at the Nine Network for three decades, eventually becoming director of current affairs in 1987 and the head of news and current affairs in 1993;^[1] he was credited with the ratings success of programs including Sunday, 60 Minutes and A Current Affair.^[2] He was awarded a Walkley Award for leadership in journalism in 2002.^[3] In 2003 Meakin left the Nine Network acrimoniously to join the rival Seven Network.^[4]

Controversy[link]

Meakin was thought to have disrespected the death of an Australian Soldier when he allowed an interview to air that used the death to acquire viewer ratings. Peter's recent efforts to expose the secret gay life of a NSW Parliament Minister, David Campbell, raised the ire of the general public with controversial reasons to "out him" in the public interest.^[5]

A number of notable community members have been vocal in David's defence^[6] despite David's alleged infidelity. Public survey's have demonstrated disapproval of Peter's reasons for his justification to run the story under the guise of the public interest, and also as retribution for an act of hypocrisy on David's part. No evidence of actual mis-conduct or ministerial impropriety was presented that demonstrated David's ability to discharge his duties was compromised as minister. But rather the evidence strongly suggests only a matter of marital infidelity.^[7]

Drink driving[link]

Meakin was subject to considerable media criticism following three serious drink driving offenses committed in 2006 and 2007, resulting in a license suspension of eight years.^[8][9][10] Although he lost a District Court appeal against his third conviction for dangerous driving, he had his original sentence, 14 months of weekend detention, reduced to 250 hours of community service.^[11]

References[link]

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Cathi Unsworth is an English writer and journalist. After working for Melody Maker and Bizarre, she began writing novels, with The Not Knowing in 2005 and The Singer in 2007, on Serpent's Tail. She also edited its London Noir anthology in 2006.

Her writing is heavily influenced by the late Derek Raymond [1].

She lives in London, where she still works as a journalist, including for Dazed & Confused.

Works[link]

Novels[link]

• The Not Knowing (2005)
• The Singer (2007)
• Bad Penny Blues (2009)

Short story collections[link]

• London Noir: Capital Crime Fiction (2006) (as editor

Other[link]

• Man of Violence An essay for the sleeve notes for the DVD release from the BFI Flipside range.
• That Kind of Girl The sleeve notes for the DVD release from the BFI Flipside range.

External links[link]

• Cathi Unsworth's personal website
• Serpent's Tail page
• 3:AM interview

This article about an English writer, poet or playwright is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e