Alexander Fiske-Harrison
Encyclopedia
Alexander Rupert Fiske-Harrison (born 22 July 1976) is an English writer and actor. He is best known for writing and acting in The Pendulum in London
's West End
and for his research into bullfighting for his book Into The Arena, which has led The Times
to describe him as "the bullfighter-philosopher." Into The Arena went on to be shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
2011.
, a "famously skilled and fearless skiier" who died in a skiing accident in Zermatt, Switzerland in 1988.
Fiske-Harrison was educated at the Universities of Oxford (M.A.) and London (M.Sc.). He trained in acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York
.
, but also in the Financial Times
, The Times Literary Supplement
, Frieze magazine
, the BBC
and CNN
.
in September 2008 received media attention which led to him moving to Spain to further research the topic, including living and training with the great matadors of today and bullfighting himself, something he covered in his blog The Last Arena - In Search of the Spanish Bullfight.
In September 2009 the journalist Giles Coren
visited Fiske-Harrison in Spain. In the long feature he wrote about that visit - 'Mad Bulls and Englishmen' in The Times
- he described him as: "Very brave. Very British. Very Charge of the Light Brigade. Very trenches. Very scary."
to turn his blog into a book, Into The Arena - The World of the Spanish Bullfight.
The book was released by Profile on May 26th, 2011, and received excellent reviews. The Mail on Sunday gave it four stars, saying, "his descriptions of the fights are compelling and lyrical, and his explanation of different uses of the matador’s capes is illuminating. One begins to understand what has captivated Spaniards for centuries." While the Sunday Times states that "it provides an engrossing introduction to Spain’s 'great feast of art and danger'", the Sunday Telegraph
said, it was "a compelling read, unusual for its genre, exalting the bullfight as pure theatre,"," and the Financial Times
called it, "an engrossing introduction to bullfighting," while The Herald (Glasgow)
called it "an informative and breathtaking volume of gonzo journalism." The Literary Review
said, "His eye-witness reports of bullfights are particularly good. He transposes the spectacle into words with great success, conveying the drama of the corrida while explaining individual moves and techniques with eloquence and precision." The Sunday Telegraph
selected it as a "best summer holiday read" and the Sunday Times as part of the summer's "essential travel book list." The Daily Mail
also points out that although Fiske-Harrison "develops a taste for the whole gruesome spectacle, what makes the book work is that he never loses his disgust for it," , and the Financial Times
seconds this: "It’s to Fiske-Harrison’s credit that he never quite gets over his moral qualms about bullfighting." However, the Sunday Times found him "a bit too self-regarding to be an entirely likeable narrator" and the Financial Times
thought that maybe "its subject encourages a sense of writerly importance."
In November 2011, the book was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
Award, known as the 'Bookie Prize', despite its author writing in the Daily Telegraph on the weekend before the prize-giving that bullfighting is not a sport at all. It was the first year that the book prize required security having received threats against the venue of the awards ceremony, Waterstones flagship store on Piccadilly
in London
, the largest bookstore in Europe.
at the Hackney Empire
theatre in London
. He has also acted on the German stage.
's West End
.
Michael Billington
in The Guardian
gave it three stars and said, "Fiske-Harrison has clearly done his homework: he understands, for instance, the tensions between Franz Joseph’s imperial benevolence and the antisemitism of Vienna’s populist mayor, Karl Lueger. The author himself plays the disintegrating hero with the right poker-backed irascibility... while it is refreshing to find a new play that gets away from bedsit angst, one wonders why Fiske-Harrison has tackled this subject now. If there are contemporary parallels, they are not obvious, and one comes away with the sensation of having seen an accomplished, but oddly impersonal, historical play." The Sunday Times described it as "something earnest, nicely acted - if a little contained - but as far from the wildness of Schnitzler or the darkness of Schiele as you can possibly imagine".
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and for his research into bullfighting for his book Into The Arena, which has led The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
to describe him as "the bullfighter-philosopher." Into The Arena went on to be shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
William Hill Sports Book of the Year
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British literary award sponsored by bookmakers William Hill. It claims to be "the world's richest sports book prize" at £22,000...
2011.
Family and education
His brother Jules William Fiske Harrison was, according to The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, a "famously skilled and fearless skiier" who died in a skiing accident in Zermatt, Switzerland in 1988.
Fiske-Harrison was educated at the Universities of Oxford (M.A.) and London (M.Sc.). He trained in acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Journalism and Philosophy
His non-fiction work has centred on animals and non-human intelligence, especially in Prospect magazineProspect (magazine)
Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
, but also in the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, Frieze magazine
Frieze (magazine)
-Publication:frieze is published eight times a year and is based in London. As well as essays, exhibition reviews and columns by forward-thinking writers, artists, critics and curators, the magazine includes music reviews, artist projects, interviews and sections on design and...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Bullfighting
His essay on bullfighting for Prospect magazineProspect (magazine)
Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
in September 2008 received media attention which led to him moving to Spain to further research the topic, including living and training with the great matadors of today and bullfighting himself, something he covered in his blog The Last Arena - In Search of the Spanish Bullfight.
In September 2009 the journalist Giles Coren
Giles Coren
Giles Coren is a British food critic, television presenter and novelist. He is known for expressing controversial opinions, and for his television appearances with the comedian Sue Perkins.-Personal:...
visited Fiske-Harrison in Spain. In the long feature he wrote about that visit - 'Mad Bulls and Englishmen' in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- he described him as: "Very brave. Very British. Very Charge of the Light Brigade. Very trenches. Very scary."
Into The Arena
In 2009 Fiske-Harrison signed a deal with the UK publishers Profile BooksProfile Books
Profile Books is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1996 to publish stimulating non-fiction. It publishes across a wide range of subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science. It also publishes all The Economist Books.In 2003 it...
to turn his blog into a book, Into The Arena - The World of the Spanish Bullfight.
The book was released by Profile on May 26th, 2011, and received excellent reviews. The Mail on Sunday gave it four stars, saying, "his descriptions of the fights are compelling and lyrical, and his explanation of different uses of the matador’s capes is illuminating. One begins to understand what has captivated Spaniards for centuries." While the Sunday Times states that "it provides an engrossing introduction to Spain’s 'great feast of art and danger'", the Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
said, it was "a compelling read, unusual for its genre, exalting the bullfight as pure theatre,"," and the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
called it, "an engrossing introduction to bullfighting," while The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
called it "an informative and breathtaking volume of gonzo journalism." The Literary Review
Literary Review
Literary Review is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at Edinburgh University. Its offices are currently on Lexington Street in Soho, London, and it has a circulation of 44,750. Britain's principal literary monthly, the magazine was...
said, "His eye-witness reports of bullfights are particularly good. He transposes the spectacle into words with great success, conveying the drama of the corrida while explaining individual moves and techniques with eloquence and precision." The Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
selected it as a "best summer holiday read" and the Sunday Times as part of the summer's "essential travel book list." The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
also points out that although Fiske-Harrison "develops a taste for the whole gruesome spectacle, what makes the book work is that he never loses his disgust for it," , and the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
seconds this: "It’s to Fiske-Harrison’s credit that he never quite gets over his moral qualms about bullfighting." However, the Sunday Times found him "a bit too self-regarding to be an entirely likeable narrator" and the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
thought that maybe "its subject encourages a sense of writerly importance."
In November 2011, the book was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
William Hill Sports Book of the Year
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British literary award sponsored by bookmakers William Hill. It claims to be "the world's richest sports book prize" at £22,000...
Award, known as the 'Bookie Prize', despite its author writing in the Daily Telegraph on the weekend before the prize-giving that bullfighting is not a sport at all. It was the first year that the book prize required security having received threats against the venue of the awards ceremony, Waterstones flagship store on Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the largest bookstore in Europe.
Theatre
Fiske-Harrison’s acting debut was as Govianus in The Second Maiden's TragedyThe Second Maiden's Tragedy
The Second Maiden's Tragedy is a Jacobean play that survives only in manuscript. It was written in 1611, and performed in the same year by the King's Men. The manuscript that survives is the copy that was sent to the censor, and therefore includes his notes and deletions...
at the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire
The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He has also acted on the German stage.
The Pendulum
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 LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
.
Michael Billington
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...
in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
gave it three stars and said, "Fiske-Harrison has clearly done his homework: he understands, for instance, the tensions between Franz Joseph’s imperial benevolence and the antisemitism of Vienna’s populist mayor, Karl Lueger. The author himself plays the disintegrating hero with the right poker-backed irascibility... while it is refreshing to find a new play that gets away from bedsit angst, one wonders why Fiske-Harrison has tackled this subject now. If there are contemporary parallels, they are not obvious, and one comes away with the sensation of having seen an accomplished, but oddly impersonal, historical play." The Sunday Times described it as "something earnest, nicely acted - if a little contained - but as far from the wildness of Schnitzler or the darkness of Schiele as you can possibly imagine".