Sara Maitland
Encyclopedia
Sara Maitland is a British writer and feminist. An accomplished novel
ist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency.
town and attended a girls' boarding school
from age twelve until her admission to university. Maitland thought this school a terrible place and became very excitable.
Growing up, Maitland developed a wild reputation: in 1966 she scandalised one of her brothers by winning a foot race in a very short cotton dress. On entering Oxford University in 1968 to study English, she shared a house with future US President Bill Clinton
and suffered from problems of mental disarray and inability to carry out routine tasks. During her college years, Maitland was taken to a mental hospital
on several occasions for this reason, but she completed her course and soon turned to writing.
Maitland became regarded as one of those at the vanguard of the 1970s feminist movement
and is often described as a feminist writer. Religion
is another theme in much of her work: from 1972 to 1993 she was married to an Anglican vicar
. In 1993 she became a Roman Catholic. In 1995 she worked with Stanley Kubrick
on the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
She has two grown-up children. Polly Lee is an aspiring actress and Adam Lee is beginning a career as a photographer. Since Adam left college, Maitland has moved towards a solitary, prayerful life in a variety of locations, first of all on the Isle of Skye and ultimately in her present house in Galloway
. She says today that she wants to avoid most of the comforts of life, especially those that intrude into her quest for silence such as mobile phones, radio, television and even her son. She has described these changes in her life and the experiences leading to them in the autobiographical "A Book of Silence".
Maitland's 2003 collection of short stories, On Becoming a Fairy Godmother, is a fictional celebration of the menopausal woman, whilst the title story of 2008's Far North was originally published as "True North" in her first collection Telling Tales and was made into a film of the same title
in 2007. The rest of Far North collects dark mythological tales from around the world.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency.
Biography
Originally spelt Sarah Maitland, she was the second of six children to an upper-class London family, which she has described as "very open and noisy". In her childhood she went to school in a small WiltshireWiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
town and attended a girls' boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
from age twelve until her admission to university. Maitland thought this school a terrible place and became very excitable.
Growing up, Maitland developed a wild reputation: in 1966 she scandalised one of her brothers by winning a foot race in a very short cotton dress. On entering Oxford University in 1968 to study English, she shared a house with future US President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and suffered from problems of mental disarray and inability to carry out routine tasks. During her college years, Maitland was taken to a mental hospital
Mental Hospital
Mental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
on several occasions for this reason, but she completed her course and soon turned to writing.
Maitland became regarded as one of those at the vanguard of the 1970s feminist movement
Second-wave feminism
The Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted through the early 1990s....
and is often described as a feminist writer. Religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
is another theme in much of her work: from 1972 to 1993 she was married to an Anglican vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
. In 1993 she became a Roman Catholic. In 1995 she worked with Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
on the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
She has two grown-up children. Polly Lee is an aspiring actress and Adam Lee is beginning a career as a photographer. Since Adam left college, Maitland has moved towards a solitary, prayerful life in a variety of locations, first of all on the Isle of Skye and ultimately in her present house in Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
. She says today that she wants to avoid most of the comforts of life, especially those that intrude into her quest for silence such as mobile phones, radio, television and even her son. She has described these changes in her life and the experiences leading to them in the autobiographical "A Book of Silence".
Maitland's 2003 collection of short stories, On Becoming a Fairy Godmother, is a fictional celebration of the menopausal woman, whilst the title story of 2008's Far North was originally published as "True North" in her first collection Telling Tales and was made into a film of the same title
Far North (2007 film)
Far North is an independently produced film by director Asif Kapadia, based on a short story by Sara Maitland. It was screened at various film festivals in 2007 and 2008 before a US DVD release on September 23, 2008....
in 2007. The rest of Far North collects dark mythological tales from around the world.
Novels
- Daughter of Jerusalem 1978
- also published as The Languages of Love
- Virgin Territory 1984
- Arky Types 1987 (with Michelene WandorMichelene WandorMichelene Dinah Wandor is an English playwright, critic, broadcaster, poet, lecturer, and musician...
) - Three Times Table 1991
- Home Truths 1993
- published as Ancestral Truths in the United States
- Hagiographies 1998
- Brittle Joys 1999
Short story collections
- Telling Tales 1983
- A Book of Spells 1987
- Women Fly When Men Aren't Watching 1992
- Angel and Me (for Holy WeekHoly WeekHoly Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
) 1996 - On Becoming A Fairy Godmother Maia, 2003
- Far North & Other Dark Tales, 2008
Non-fiction
- A Map of the New Country: Women and Christianity, 1983
- Vesta TilleyVesta TilleyMatilda Alice Powles , was an English male impersonator. At the age of 11, she adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley becoming the most famous and well paid music hall male impersonator of her day...
ViragoVirago PressVirago is a British publishing company founded in 1973 by Carmen Callil to publish books by women writers. Both new works and reissued books by neglected authors have featured on the imprint's list....
, 1986 - A Big-Enough God: Artful Theology Mowbray, 1994
- Virtuous Magic: Women Saints and Their Meanings (with Wendy MulfordWendy MulfordWendy Mulford is a British poet, associated with the contemporary avant garde scene, with the British Poetry Revival, and with the development of feminist poetry in 1970s. Her poetry has been viewed as "difficult to categorise" and as "multi- and non-linear"...
), 1998 - Novel Thoughts: Religious Fiction in Contemporary Culture Erasmus Institute, 1999
- Awesome God: Creation, Commitment and Joy SPCKSPCKThe Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is the oldest Anglican mission organisation. It was founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray , and a small group of friends. The most important early leaders were Anton Wilhelm Boehm and court preacher Friedrich Michael Ziegenhagen...
, 2002 - Stations of the CrossStations of the CrossStations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
(with Chris Gollon), 2009 - A Book of Silence GrantaGrantaGranta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
, 2008 (hardcover); 2009 (paperback)
As editor
- Very Heaven: Looking Back at the 1960s, 1988
- The Rushdie File 1990 (with Lisa AppignanesiLisa AppignanesiLisa Appignanesi is a British writer, novelist, and campaigner for free expression. She is president of the writers’ organization English PEN. Her latest book is All About Love: Anatomy of an Unruly Emotion...
)