Catherine Sampson
Encyclopedia
Catherine Sampson is a British writer of crime/thriller fiction. Her first four novels were published by Pan Macmillan. She has also worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times
and other publications.
, England. She studied Chinese at Leeds University where she graduated with a BA in 1984. She then studied at Harvard University
as a Kennedy Scholar. After working for the BBC
in London she was assigned by The Times
to Beijing in 1988. As the newspaper's China correspondent, Sampson covered the Tiananmen Square protests
of 1989. She also worked as a freelance journalist during the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 before beginning her literary career in London. Since 2001 she has been based again in Beijing. Sampson's first novel, Falling Off Air, was published in 2004. She is married to James Miles, a foreign correspondent of The Economist
.
, for which Sampson herself had once worked, and which was also her husband's employer during the 1980s and 90s). In Falling Off Air (2004), Ballantyne witnesses the death of a celebrity neighbour and gradually discovers how it mysteriously relates to her own professional and private world. In Out of Mind (2005), Ballantyne goes in search of a missing camerawoman, and becomes embroiled in "Corporation" intrigues. Ballantyne is less central to the action in Sampson's third novel, The Pool of Unease (2007), in which she shares the main role with Song Ren, a private detective. Both are trying to unravel the murder of a British man in Beijing. In the fourth novel, The Slaughter Pavilion (2008), Ballantyne is mentioned only briefly and Song becomes the protagonist. His investigations explore the gritty and lawless world of rural China.
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...
and other publications.
Biography
Sampson was born in 1962 in SwindonSwindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, England. She studied Chinese at Leeds University where she graduated with a BA in 1984. She then studied at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
as a Kennedy Scholar. After working for 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...
in London she was assigned by 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 Beijing in 1988. As the newspaper's China correspondent, Sampson covered the Tiananmen Square protests
Tiananmen Square protests
Tiananmen Square in Beijing has been the central point for several major historical protests, with their most commonly referred to Chinese name in parentheses....
of 1989. She also worked as a freelance journalist during the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 before beginning her literary career in London. Since 2001 she has been based again in Beijing. Sampson's first novel, Falling Off Air, was published in 2004. She is married to James Miles, a foreign correspondent of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
.
Work
The heroine of Sampson's early books was Robin Ballantyne, a British TV journalist working for "the Corporation" (possibly a veiled reference to the BBCBBC
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...
, for which Sampson herself had once worked, and which was also her husband's employer during the 1980s and 90s). In Falling Off Air (2004), Ballantyne witnesses the death of a celebrity neighbour and gradually discovers how it mysteriously relates to her own professional and private world. In Out of Mind (2005), Ballantyne goes in search of a missing camerawoman, and becomes embroiled in "Corporation" intrigues. Ballantyne is less central to the action in Sampson's third novel, The Pool of Unease (2007), in which she shares the main role with Song Ren, a private detective. Both are trying to unravel the murder of a British man in Beijing. In the fourth novel, The Slaughter Pavilion (2008), Ballantyne is mentioned only briefly and Song becomes the protagonist. His investigations explore the gritty and lawless world of rural China.
Other fiction
Hit and Run in Beijing: Portrait of a City (2008) ISBN 9622178030External links
- Catherine Sampson website
- Catherine Sampson on writing fiction, Urbanatomy.com. October 2009
- Chinese government website attacks Catherine Sampson article, December 2008
- http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/beijing-book-club/listen-in-to-the-podcast-talk-by-crime-writers-qiu-xiaolong-and-catherine-sampson-on-of-crime-society-at-the-beijing-international-literary-festival/Catherine Sampson interviews author Qiu XiaolongQiu XiaolongQiu Xiaolong is an English language poet, literary translator, crime novelist, critic, and academic, currently living in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife Wang Lijun and daughter Julia Qiu. He originally visited the United States in 1988 to write a book about T. S...
, March 2008.] - http://video.jpress.co.uk/editorial/YPOS/Crimejames_bond.mp3Catherine Sampson in conversation with Charlie HigsonCharlie HigsonCharles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...
, James TwiningJames TwiningJames Twining is a British thriller writer.- Life :Although born in London, Twining spent most of his childhood in France after his family moved to Paris when he was four...
, Joseph FinderJoseph FinderJoseph Finder is an American writer of several thrillers set in a business environment. His books include Paranoia, Company Man, Killer Instinct and Power Play...
and Simon BrettSimon BrettSimon Brett is a prolific writer of whodunnits. The son of a chartered surveyor, he was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first-class honours degree in English...
] - http://www.bonlive.com/11/62/2897-writer-interview-catherine-sampson.shtmlCatherine Sampson interviewed by fellow author Lijia ZhangLijia ZhangLijia Zhang is a writer, journalist and public speaker. She describes herself as a communicator between China and the world and has given talks at conferences about contemporary China and lectured at many top universities including Stanford and Harvard and The University of Sydney.Early in life...
on Blue Ocean NetworkBlue Ocean NetworkBlue Ocean Network is an independent English-language television news network based in the People's Republic of China. It is the first privately-owned Chinese commercial TV network....
, July 2010]