Kate Mosse
Encyclopedia
Kate Mosse is an English
author
and broadcaster
. She is best known for her 2005 novel Labyrinth, which has been translated into more than 37 languages.
and was educated at Chichester High School and New College, Oxford
. After graduation, she spent seven years in publishing. Her bestselling books have sold millions of copies in over 40 countries.
Kate married old school friend Greg Mosse, after meeting him again twenty years later on a train by chance. Mosse lives with her husband and family in Chichester
and Carcassonne
.
. Meanwhile she also remained engaged in research work for the first of a series of timeslip historical adventure novels set in southwest France in the past and present day. In 2005, the first of the series, Labyrinth, was published. It has sold millions of copies throughout the world, was the bestselling title in the UK for 2006 and won the Richard & Judy
Best Book at the British Book Awards
2006. Television rights have been sold to Scott Free and Tandem Communications
and is filming in Autumn 2011. The international cast includes John Hurt
, Janet Suzman
, Jessica Brown Findlay and Sebastian Stan
. In spite of this commercial success the book has failed to please a majority of its readers and has the rare distinction of receiving more one-star than five-star reviews on its Amazon page.
A regular guest on UK radio and television, she presented the BBC Four
literary chat show Readers' and Writers' Roadshow and appears on the BBC Breakfast News and BBC2's The Review Show
. She is a guest presenter for A Good Read
on BBC Radio 4.
In 1996 she co-founded the annual Orange Prize for Fiction
, of which she is also the Honorary Director. The Prize celebrates international fiction throughout the world written by women and is anonymously endowed. Previous winners include Fugitive Pieces
by Anne Michaels
, Small Island
by Andrea Levy
and We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Lionel Shriver
.
In 2000 she was named European Woman of Achievement for her contribution to the arts.
In October 2007, the second novel in the Languedoc Trilogy was published. Sepulchre
was also a No.1 bestseller in the UK and an international bestseller. The third in the Languedoc trilogy, Citadel will be published in September 2012.
Mosse has also contributed a number of essays and stories to anthologies and collections, including Modern Delight (a book inspired by J. B. Priestley
's 1949 book Delight) published by Waterstone's
to raise money for Dyslexia Action and the London Library
; Little Black Dress (edited by Susie Maguire); Midsummer Nights (edited by Jeanette Winterson
), a collection to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Glyndebourne
Opera House in East Sussex
; The Best Little Book Club in Town in aid of Breast Cancer Care
and Why Willows Weep (edited by Tracy Chevalier
) in aid of the Woodland Trust
(2011).
She writes a regular column for the book trade magazine The Bookseller and is one of the authors leading the campaign against the closure of the UK library service.
In October 2009 she released her latest novel The Winter Ghosts, based on a novella Kate had contributed to the Quick Reads Initiative
.
Her first play, Syrinx, was part of the SkyArts Theatre Live project, devised by Sandi Toksvig
. First performed in July 2009, it won a broadcasting press publicity award that same year.
Kate Mosse's second play Endpapers was part of the Bush Theatre
's 2011 project Sixty Six. Her monolgue was inspired by the Book of Revelation
, the final book in the King James Bible
In 2012, she will publish an anniversary book to celebrate fifty years of the Chichester Festival Theatre. Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty is published by the crowd funding publishing company Unbound.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
. She is best known for her 2005 novel Labyrinth, which has been translated into more than 37 languages.
Private life
Mosse was born in West SussexWest Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
and was educated at Chichester High School and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
. After graduation, she spent seven years in publishing. Her bestselling books have sold millions of copies in over 40 countries.
Kate married old school friend Greg Mosse, after meeting him again twenty years later on a train by chance. Mosse lives with her husband and family in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
and Carcassonne
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...
.
Career
In 1996 she published her first novel, Eskimo Kissing, about a young, adopted woman searching for her background. This was followed in 1998 by the thriller Crucifix Lane. From 1998 up to 2001, she held her post as the executive director of the Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
. Meanwhile she also remained engaged in research work for the first of a series of timeslip historical adventure novels set in southwest France in the past and present day. In 2005, the first of the series, Labyrinth, was published. It has sold millions of copies throughout the world, was the bestselling title in the UK for 2006 and won the Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...
Best Book at the British Book Awards
British Book Awards
The Galaxy National Book Awards are a series of British literary awards focused on the best UK writers and their works, as selected by an academy of members from the British book publishing industry...
2006. Television rights have been sold to Scott Free and Tandem Communications
Tandem Communications
Tandem Communications is a Munich based company which produces TV movies, miniseries, television series and film series.It was founded in 1999 by Emmy-nominated producers Rola Bauer and Tim Halkin.-Produced:* Relic Hunter...
and is filming in Autumn 2011. The international cast includes John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
, Janet Suzman
Janet Suzman
Dame Janet Suzman, DBE is a South African-born-British actress and director.-Early life:Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty and Saul Suzman, a wealthy importer of tobacco....
, Jessica Brown Findlay and Sebastian Stan
Sebastian Stan
Sebastian Stan is a Romanian-born American actor. He is best known for playing Prince Jack Benjamin on the television drama Kings and Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl.-Early life:...
. In spite of this commercial success the book has failed to please a majority of its readers and has the rare distinction of receiving more one-star than five-star reviews on its Amazon page.
A regular guest on UK radio and television, she presented the BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
literary chat show Readers' and Writers' Roadshow and appears on the BBC Breakfast News and BBC2's The Review Show
The Review Show
The Review Show is a British discussion programme dedicated to the arts which airs on Friday evenings at 11:00pm on BBC Two. The programme features a panel of guests who review the week's developments in the world of the arts and culture.-Background:...
. She is a guest presenter for A Good Read
A Good Read
A Good Read is one of BBC Radio 4's longest running programmes where two guests join the main presenter to choose and discuss their favourite book. Sue MacGregor stepped down in 2010 as the programme's longest serving presenter...
on BBC Radio 4.
In 1996 she co-founded the annual Orange Prize for Fiction
Orange Prize for Fiction
The Orange Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year...
, of which she is also the Honorary Director. The Prize celebrates international fiction throughout the world written by women and is anonymously endowed. Previous winners include Fugitive Pieces
Fugitive Pieces
Fugitive Pieces is a novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels. First published in 1996 , it was awarded the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, Orange Prize for Fiction and the Guardian Fiction Prize....
by Anne Michaels
Anne Michaels
-Background:Anne Michaels was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1958. Michaels attended Vaughan Road Academy and then later the University of Toronto, where she is an adjunct faculty in the Department of English. Her first book, The Weight of Oranges , a volume of poetry, was awarded the Commonwealth...
, Small Island
Small Island
Small Island is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author Andrea Levy. It was adapted for television in two episodes by the BBC in 2009....
by Andrea Levy
Andrea Levy
Andrea Levy is a British author, born in London to Jamaican parents who sailed to England on the Empire Windrush in 1948.-Identity and writings:...
and We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, published by Serpent's Tail, about a fictional school massacre. It is written from the perspective of the killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son Kevin and the murders he committed...
by Lionel Shriver
Lionel Shriver
-Early life and education:Lionel Shriver was born Margaret Ann Shriver on May 18, 1957 in Gastonia, North Carolina, to a deeply religious family . At age 15, she changed her name from Margaret Ann to Lionel because she did not like the name she had been given, and as a tomboy felt that a...
.
In 2000 she was named European Woman of Achievement for her contribution to the arts.
In October 2007, the second novel in the Languedoc Trilogy was published. Sepulchre
Sepulchre (Kate Mosse novel)
Sepulchre is a novel by the English author Kate Mosse. The story is based in two time periods, 1891 and present day , and follows two female protagonists.-Plot summary:...
was also a No.1 bestseller in the UK and an international bestseller. The third in the Languedoc trilogy, Citadel will be published in September 2012.
Mosse has also contributed a number of essays and stories to anthologies and collections, including Modern Delight (a book inspired by J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
's 1949 book Delight) published by Waterstone's
Waterstone's
Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....
to raise money for Dyslexia Action and the London Library
London Library
The London Library is the world's largest independent lending library, and the UK's leading literary institution. It is located in the City of Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom....
; Little Black Dress (edited by Susie Maguire); Midsummer Nights (edited by Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson OBE is a British novelist.-Early years:Winterson was born in Manchester and adopted on 21 January 1960. She was raised in Accrington, Lancashire, by Constance and John William Winterson...
), a collection to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne is a country house, thought to be about six hundred years old, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England. It is also the site of an opera house which, with the exception of its closing during the Second World War, for a few immediate post-war years, and in 1993 during the...
Opera House in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
; The Best Little Book Club in Town in aid of Breast Cancer Care
Breast Cancer Care
Breast Cancer Care is a charity in the UK that provides information, practical assistance and emotional support to anyone affected by breast cancer. The organization was founded in 1972 by Betty Westgate who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1968...
and Why Willows Weep (edited by Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Chevalier
Tracy Chevalier is a bestselling historical novelist. She lives in London with her husband and son.Chevalier was raised in Washington, D.C and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland. After receiving her B.A...
) in aid of the Woodland Trust
Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.-History:...
(2011).
She writes a regular column for the book trade magazine The Bookseller and is one of the authors leading the campaign against the closure of the UK library service.
In October 2009 she released her latest novel The Winter Ghosts, based on a novella Kate had contributed to the Quick Reads Initiative
Quick Reads Initiative
Quick Reads are a series of short books by bestselling authors and celebrities. With no more than 128 pages, they are designed to encourage adults who do not read often, or find reading tough, to discover the joy of books....
.
Her first play, Syrinx, was part of the SkyArts Theatre Live project, devised by Sandi Toksvig
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Brigitte “Sandi” Toksvig is a Danish comedian, author and presenter on British radio and television.-Career:...
. First performed in July 2009, it won a broadcasting press publicity award that same year.
Kate Mosse's second play Endpapers was part of the Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
's 2011 project Sixty Six. Her monolgue was inspired by the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, the final book in the King James Bible
In 2012, she will publish an anniversary book to celebrate fifty years of the Chichester Festival Theatre. Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty is published by the crowd funding publishing company Unbound.
External links
- Kate's official UK website
- Kate's official USA website
- Kate Mosse's books on the publisher's website
- Kate's Labyrinth website and blog
- Kate's Sepulchre website and blog
- Listen to Kate Mosse talking about Sepulchre on The Interview Online
- Audio: Kate Mosse in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme The ForumThe Forum (BBC World Service)The Forum is the BBC World Service's flagship discussion programme. It brings together prominent thinkers from different disciplines and different parts of the world to try and create stimulating discussion, informed by highly distinct academic, artistic and cultural backgrounds.-Format:Each...