Philip Marsden
Encyclopedia
Philip Marsden also known as Philip Marsden-Smedley (born 11 May 1961, Bristol
, England
) is an English
travel writer and novelist.
Marsden has a degree in anthropology and worked for some years for The Spectator
magazine. He became a full-time writer in the late 1980s. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
.
A review of his work by Guy Mannes-Abbott appeared in The Independent newspaper in November 2007.
He lives in Cornwall
with his wife, a writer and their children.
Historical and Travel writing
Novels
Spectator anthologies
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
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...
) is an English
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...
travel writer and novelist.
Marsden has a degree in anthropology and worked for some years for The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
magazine. He became a full-time writer in the late 1980s. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
.
A review of his work by Guy Mannes-Abbott appeared in The Independent newspaper in November 2007.
He lives in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
with his wife, a writer and their children.
Publications
His books include:Historical and Travel writing
- A far country : travels in Ethiopia, Century, 1990 ISBN 0712625666
- The crossing place : a journey among the Armenians, HarperCollins, 1993 ISBN 0002158787 [ Somerset Maugham AwardSomerset Maugham AwardThe Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each May by the Society of Authors. It is awarded to whom they judge to be the best writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a book published in the past year. The prize was instituted in 1947 by William Somerset Maugham and thus...
in 1994]. This book is being currently translated into Spanish thanks to an Artist Residency granted by the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, and the Mexican National Fund for Culture and the Arts. - The Bronski house : a return to the Borderlands, HarperCollins, 1995 ISBN 0002556308 ["a story of multi-generational Polish exile involving Zofia Ilinska, friend, neighbour and poet" ]
- The spirit-wrestlers : a Russian journey, HarperCollins, 1998 [ Thomas Cook Travel Book AwardThomas Cook Travel Book AwardThe Thomas Cook Travel Book Award originated as an initiative of Thomas Cook AG in 1980, with the aim of encouraging and rewarding the art of literary travel writing. The awards stopped in 2005...
1999] - The chains of heaven : An Ethiopian romance, HarperCollins, 2005 ISBN 0007173474
- The barefoot emperor : an Ethiopian tragedy, HarperPress, 2007 ISBN 0-00717345-8 [A life of Tewodros II of EthiopiaTewodros II of EthiopiaTewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....
]. - The Levelling Sea: The Story of a Cornish Haven in the Age of Sail, HarperPress, 2011 ISBN 978-0007174539
Novels
- The Main Cages, Flamingo, 2002 ISBN 0007136390 - The novel is set in the English county of CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
during the mid-1930s.
Spectator anthologies
- Views from abroad : the Spectator book of travel writing, edited by Philip Marsden-Smedley and Jeffrey Klinke, London: Grafton, 1988 ISBN 0-58608896-2
- Articles of war : the Spectator book of World War II, edited by Fiona Glass and Philip Marsden-Smedley, London : Grafton, 1989 ISBN 0-24613394-5
- Britain in the eighties : the Spectator’s view of the Thatcher decade / edited by Philip Marsden-Smedley, Grafton, 1989 ISBN 0246133953